A peep at Washoe

BANCROFT
LIBRARY

0-

THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA

viii

ILLUSTRATIONS.

280. Acarus Megharina 610

281. Acarus Muscida 611

282. Acarus Contagiosus 612

283. Hydrachna Geographica 613

284. Hydrachna Globum 613

285. Hydrachna Puteus 614

286. Cruiser untamed 615

287. Cruiser tamed 616

288. Taming a Groom 617

289. Cruiser bridled 618

290. Cruiser's Bridle 619

291. Untamed Groom 620

292. Gentlemanly Horse 620

293. Rarey's Swedish Medal 620

294. Rurey's Kii-rlish Medal 620

295. At Brandon's 669

2lii5. Mr. Frog and Prince Ox 670

L".'T. The Old Fogies 672

298. Lying in Wait 676

299. Sis and Pussy 717

300. Sis in Powder 717

301. Sis's Dream Land 717

302. Sis and Bub 717

303. Sitting up 717

304. Washing Dolly 718

305. Dolly's Bath 718

306. Sis in full Dress 718

307. Dolly in Disgrace 718

308. At Night 718

309. Spring Pelisse 719

310. Morning Negligee 720

311. An Expatriated Patriot 721

312. On State Street, Boston 722

B18. Worth a Million 723

314. Feeding Pigeons 724

315. The Kitten 724

316. Boston Girl 725

317. Lecture on Matrimony 726

318. The Artist's Studio 727

319. A Popular Orator 728

320. Harbor of Cohasset 729

P.21. A Haddock , 730

322. Lobster Pot 731

323. Pond near Cohasset 732

324. The Apple-Peeler 733

325. The Shoemaker 736

326. The Good Old Times 737

327. Recreation formerly 738

328. Recreation nowadays 739

329. Private Entrance to the Circus 740

330. Between Hope and Fear 741

331. Camp at Flatwater, Labrador 743

332. Settler's Cabin 745

333. Map of Esquimaux Bay 748

334. Esquimaux Toupik 749

335. Esquimaux of Ungava 751

336. Rigolette 754

337. The Doctor's Mishap 756

338. Mealy Mountains 758

339. Nascopies, or Mountaineers 759

340. Parhelia at Tub Harbor 762

341. Chateau Island 763

342. Profile Rocks, Henley Harbor 764

343. Fort at Chateau Bay 765

344. Excavation at Carthage 766

345. Cape Carthage 768

346. The African Coliseum 7T0

347. Ruins of Temple of Baal Hammon.... 771

348. Punic Inscription 772

349. OrleyFarm 796

350. Sir Peregrine and his Heir 807

351. Cynical 815

352. Laura's Fireside 817

353. A Riddle 818

354. Little Daisy 858

355. Brother Jones's Daughter 859

356. A Fallen Politician 859

357. A Coon Dog 859

358. Little Fred 860

359. Judge Mattocks 860

360. A Happy New Year 861

361. That Everlasting Smith 861

362. Walkin 862

363. No Feathers 862

364. Spring Pardessus, No. J 863

365. Spring Pardessus, No. 2 864

MO

ft Libnay

HARPER'S

SEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

NO. CXXVII -DECEMBER, 1860,-VoL XXII.

WHEN I inform the reader that I hare
scarcely dipped pen in ink for six years,
save to unravel the mysteries of a Treasury
voucher ; that I have lived chiefly among In-
dians, disbursing agents, and officers a of the
customs ; that I now sit writing in the attic
of a German villa more than eight thousand
miles from the scene of my adventures, with-
out note or memorandum of any kind to re-
fresh my memory, you will be prepared to
make reasonable allowance for such a loose,
rambling, and disjointed narrative as an Ex-
Inspector-General can be ex-
pected to write under such ad-
verse circumstances. If there
be inconveniences in being

Entered according to Act of CongresK, in the year 1860, by Harper and Brothers, in the Clerk's Office of the Dis-
trict Court for the Southern District of New York.
VOL. XXII. No. 127. A

HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

hanged, as the gentle Elia has attempted to
prove, so likewise are there inconveniences in
being decapitated ; for surely a man deprived of
the casket which nature has given him as a re-
ceptacle for his brains, is no better oft* than one
with a broken neck. But it is not my present
purpose to enter into an analysis of this portion
of my experience. Nor do I make these refer-
-nces to official life by way of excuse for any rusti-
ness of intellect that may be perceptible in my
narrative ; but rather in mitigation of those un-
conscious violations of truth and marvelous flights
of fancy which may naturally result from long
experience in Government affairs.

Ever since 1849, when I first trod the shores
of California, the citizens of that Land of Prom-
ise have been subject to periodical excitements,
the extent and variety of which can find no par-
allel in any other State of the Union. To enu-
merate these in chronological detail would be a
difficult task, nor is it necessary to my purpose.
The destruction of towns by flood and fire ; the
uprisings and downfallings of Vigilance Com-
mittees ; the breaking of banking-houses and pe-
cuniary ruin of thousands ; the political wars,
Senatorial tournaments, duels, and personal af-
t'rays ; the Prison and Bulkhead schemes ; the
extraordinary ovations to the living and the dead,
and innumerable other excitements, have been
too frequently detailed, and have elicited too
much comment from the Atlantic press, not to
be still in the memory of the public.

But numerous as these agitations have been,
and prejudicial as some of them must long con-
tinue to be to the reputation of the State, they
can bear no comparison in point of extent and
general interest to the mining excitements which
from time to time have convulsed the whole Pa-
cific coast, from Puget's Sound to San Diego.
In these there can be no occasion for party ani-
mosity ; they are confined to no political or sec-
tional clique ; all the industrial classes are inter-
ested, and in a manner too, affecting, either di-
rectly or incidentally, their very means of subsist-
ence. The country abounds in mineral wealth,
and the merchant, tiie banker, the shipper, the
mechanic, the laborer, are all to some extent de-
pendent upon its development. Even the gen-
tleman of elegant leisure, vulgarly known as the
"Bummer" and there are many in California
is occasionally driven by visions of cock-tail
and cigar-money to doff his "stove-pipe," and
exchange his gold-mounted cane for a pick or
a shovel. The axiom has been well established
by an eminent English writer, that " Every man
wants a thousand pounds." It seems indeed to
be a chronic and constitutional want, as well in
California as in less favored countries.

Few of the early residents of the State can
have forgotten the Gold Bluff excitement of Y>2,
when by all accounts old Ocean himself turned
miner, and washed up cart-loads of gold on the
bearh above Trinidad. It was represented, and
generally believed, that any enterprising man
could take his hat and a wheel-barrow and in
half an hour gather up gold enough to last him

THE BUMMER.

for life. I have reason to suspect that, of the
thousands who went there, many will long re-
member their experience with emotions, if pleas-
ant " yet mournful to the soul."

The Kern River excitement threatened for a
time to depopulate the northern portion of the
State. The stages from Marysville and Sacra-
mento were crowded day after day, and new
lines were established from Los Angeles, Stock-
ton, San Jose', and various other points ; but such
was the pressure of travel in search of this grand
depository, in which it was represented the main
wealth of the world had been treasured by a
beneficent Providence, that thousands were com-
pelled to go on foot and carry their blankets and
provisions on their backs. From Stockton to the
mining district, a distance of more than three
hundred miles, the plains of the San Joaquin
were literally speckled with "honest miners."
It is a notable fact, that, of those who went in
stages, the majority returned on foot; and of
those who trusted originally to shoe-leather, many
had to walk back on their natural soles, or de-
pend on sackcloth or charity.

After the Kern River Exchequer had been ex-
hausted the public were congratulated by the
press throughout the State upon the effectual
check now put upon these ruinous and extrava-

A PEEP AT WASHOE.

Scarcely had the reverberation caused by the
bursting of the Kern River bubble died away,
and fortune again smiled upon the ruined mul-
titudes, when a faint cry was heard from afar
first Tow and uncertain, like a mysterious whis-
per, then full and sonorous, like the boom of glad
tidings from the mouth of a cannon, the in-
spiring cry of FRAZER RIVER ! Here was gold
sure enough ! a river of gold ! a country that
dazzled the eyes with its glitter of gold. There
was no deception about it this time. New Cale-
donia was the land of Ophir. True, it was in
the British possessions, but what of that ? The
people of California would develop the British
possessions. Had our claim to 5440' been in-
sisted upon, this immense treasure would now
have been within our own boundaries ; but no mat-
ter it was ours by right of proximity ! The prob-
lem of Solomon's Temple was now solved. Trav-
j elers, from Marco Polo down to the present era,
j who had attempted to find the true land of Ophir
had signally failed ; but here it was, the exact lo-
cality, beyond peradventure. For where else in
the world could the river-beds, creeks, and canons
be lined with gold ? Where else could the honest
miner " pan out" $100 per day every day in the
year ? But if any who had been rendered in-
credulous by former excitements still doubted,

v-*-

GOING TO KEEN EIVEE.

gant excitements. The enterprising miners who
had been tempted to abandon good claims in
search of better had undergone a species of purg-
ing which would allay any irritation of the mu-
cous membrane for some time. What they
had lost in money they had gained in experience.
They would henceforth turn a deaf ear to in-
terested representations, and not be dazzled by '
visions of sudden wealth conjured up by monte- |
dealers, travelers, and horse-jockeys. They were, |
on the whole, wiser if not happier men. Nor j
would the lesson be lost to the merchants and I
capitalists who had scattered their goods and
their funds over the pictui'esque heights of the
Sierra Nevada. And even the gentlemen of
elegant leisure, who had gone off so suddenly in
search of small change for liquors and cigars,
could now recuperate their exhausted energies
at the free lunch establishments of San Fran-
cisco, or if too far gone in seed for that, they
could regenerate their muscular system by some
wholesome exercise in the old diggings, where
there was not so much gold perhaps as at
Kern River, but where it could be got at more
easily.

BETUKNIMG FROM KERN KIVEB.

HAKPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

HO.! FOE FHAZER RIVER.

they could no longer discredit the statements
that were brought down by every steamer, ac-
companied by positive and palpable specimens
of the ore, and by the assurances of captains,
pursers, mates, cooks, and waiters, that Frazer
River was the country. To be sure, it was after-
ward hinted that the best part of the gold brought
down from Frazer had made the round voyage
from San Francisco ; but I consider this a gross
and unwarranted imputation upon the integrity
of steamboat owners, captains, and speculators.
Did not the famous Commodore Wright take the
matter in hand ; put his best steamers on the
route ; hoist his banners and placards in every
direction, and give every man a chance of test-
ing the question in person ? This was establish-
ing the existence of immense mineral wealth in
that region upon a firm and practical basis. No
man of judgment and experience, like the Com-
modore, would undertake to run his steamers on

"the baseless fabric of a vision." The cheap-
ness and variety of his rates afforded every man
an opportunity of making a fortune. For thirty,
twenty, and even fifteen dollars, the ambitious
aspirant for Frazer could be landed at Victoria.
I will not now undertake to give a detail of
that memorable excitement ; how the stages,
north, south, east, and, I had almost said,
west, were crowded day and night with scores
upon scores of sturdy adventurers ; how farms
were abandoned and crops lost for want of
hands to work them ; how rich claims in the
old diggings were given away for a song ; how
the wharves of San Francisco groaned under the
pressure of the human freight delivered upon
them on every arrival of the Sacramento and
Stockton boats ; how it was often impracticable
to get through the streets in that vicinity owing
to the crowds gathered around the "runners,"
who cried aloud the merits and demerits of the

A PEEP AT WASHOE.

rival steamers ; and, strangest of all, how the
head and front of the Frazerites were the very
men who had enjoyed such pleasant experience
at Gold Bluff, Kern River, and other places fa-
mous in the history of California. No sensible
man could doubt the richness of Frazer River
when these veterans became leaders, and called
upon the masses to follow. They were not a
class of men likely to be deceived they knew
the signs of the times. And, in addition to all
this, who could resist the judgment and experi-
ence of Commodore Wright, a man who had
made an independent fortune in the steamboat
business? Who could be deaf when assayers,
bankers, jobbers, and speculators cried aloud
that it was all true ?

Well, I am not going to moralize. Mr. Nu-
gent was appointed a Commissioner, on the part
of the United States, to settle the various diffi-
culties which had grown up between the miners
and Governor Douglass. He arrived at Victoria
in time to perform signal service to his fellow-
citizens ; that is to say, he found many of them
in a state of starvation, and sent them back to
California at public expense. Frazer River, al-
ways too high for mining purposes, could not be
prevailed upon to subside. Its banks were not
banks of issue, nor were its beds stuffed with the
feathers of the Golden Goose. Had it not been
for this turn of affairs it is difficult to say what
would have been the result. The British Lion
had been slumbering undisturbed at Victoria for
half a century, and was very much astonished,
upon waking up, to find thirty thousand semi-
barbarous Californians scattered broadcast over
the British possessions. Governor Douglass is-
sued manifestoes in vain. He evidently thought
it no joke. The subject eventually became a
matter of diplomatic correspondence, in which
much ink was shed, but fortunately no blood ;
although the subsequent seizure of San Juan by
General Harney came very near producing that
result. 4

The steamers in due course of time began to
return crowded with enterprising miners, who
still believed there was gold there if the river
would only fall. But generosity dictates that I
should say no more on this point. It is enough
to add, that the time arrived Avhen it became a
matter of personal offense to ask any spirited
gentleman if he had been to Frazer River.

There was now, of course, an end to all min-
ing excitements. It could never again happen
that such an imposition could be practiced upon
public credulity. In the whole State there was
not another sheep that could be gulled by the cry
of wolf. Business would now resume its steady
and legitimate course. Property would cease to
fluctuate in value. Every branch of industry
would become fixed upon a permanent and reli-
able basis. All these excitements were the nat-r
ural results of the daring and enterprising char-
acter of the people. But now, having worked
off their superabundant steam, they would be
prepared to go ahead systematically, and devel-
op those resources which they had hitherto neg-

BETtTRNKD FROM FRAZER KIVE2.

lected. It was a course of medical effervescence
highly beneficial to the body politic. All mor-
bid appetite for sudden wealth was now gone for-
ever.

But softly, good friends! What rumor is
this? Whence come these silvery strains that
are wafted to our ears from the passes of the Si-
erra Nevada ? What dulcet ^Eolian harmonies
what divine, enchanting ravishment is it

"That with these raptures moves the vocal air? 1 '

As I live, it is a cry of Silver ! Silver in WA-
SHOE ! Not gold now, you silly men of Gold
Bluff ; you Kern-Riverites ; you daring explor-
ers of British Columbia! But SILVER solid,
pure SILVEK! Beds of it ten thousand feet
deep ! Acres of it ! miles of it ! hundreds of
millions of dollars poking their backs up out of
the earth ready to be pocketed !

Do you speak of the mines of Potosi or Gol-
conda ? Do you dare to quote the learned Baron
Von Tschudi on South America and Mexico ?
Do you refer me to the ransom of Atahualpa,
the unfortunate Inca, in the days of Pizarro?
Nothing at all, I assure you, to the silver mines
of Washoe! "Sir," said my informant to me,
in strict confidence, no later than this morning,
"you may rely upon it, for I am personally ac-
quainted with a brother of the gentleman whose
most intimate friend saw the man whose partner
has just come over the mountains, and he says
there never was the like on the face of the enrtli !
The ledges are ten thousand feet deep solid

HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

>

- ~^ NX-

,.; -3-y. -Cffl 5. ,s i?-- \V \V -.-

UCJKKA1I FOB WASUOEI

masses of silver. Let us be off! Now is the
time! A pack-mule, pick and shovel, hammer
and frying-pan will do. You need 'nothing
more. HURRAH FOR WAPHOE!"

Kind and sympathizing reader, imagine a man
who for six years had faithfully served his gov-
ernment and his country ; who had never, if he
knew himself intimately, embezzled a dollar of
the public funds ; who had resisted the seductive
influences of Gold Bluff, Kern, and Frazer Riv-
ers, from the purest motives of patriotism ; who
scorned to abandon his post in search of filthy
lucre imagine such a personage cut short in his
official career, and suddenly bereft of his per
diem by a formal and sarcastic note of three
lines from head-quarters ; then fancy you hear
him jingle the last of his Federal emoluments in
his pocket, and sigh at the ingratitude of repub-
lics. Would you not consider him open to any
proposition short of murder or highway robbery?

Would you be surprised if he accepted an invita-
tion from Mr. Wise, the aeronaut, to take a voy-
age in a balloon ? or the berth of assistant-man-
ager in a diving-bell ? or joined the first expedi-
tion in search of the treasure buried by the
Spanish galleon on her voyage to Acapulco in
1578 ? Then consider his position, as he stands
musing upon the mutability of human affairs,
when those strange and inspiring cries of Washoe
fall upon his ears for the first time, with a real-
izing sense of their import. Borne on the wings
of the wind from the Sierra Nevada ; wafted
through every street, lane, and alley of San
Francisco; whirling around the drinking-sa-
loons, eddying over the counters of the banking-
offices, scattering up the dust among the Front
Street merchants, arousing the slumbering in-
mates of the Custom-house what man of enter-
prise could resist it ? Washoe ! The Comstock
i lead ! The Ophir ! The Central The Billy

A PEEP AT WASHOE.

Choller Companies, and a thousand others, indi-
cating in trumpet-tones the high road to fortune!
From the crack of day to the shades of night no-
thing is heard but Washoe. The steady men of
San Francisco are aroused, the men of Front
Street, the gunny-bag men, the brokers, the
gamblers, the butchers, the bakers, the whisky-
dealers, the lawyers, and all. The exception
wa to find a sane man in the entire city.

No wonder the abstracted personage already
referred to was aroused from his gloomy reflec-
tions. A friend appealed to him to go to Wa-
shoe. The friend was interested there, but could
not go himself. It was a matter of incalculable
importance. Millions were involved in it. He
(the friend) would pay expenses. The business
would not occupy a week, and would not inter-
fere with any other business.

WAbUOK AGENCY.

Next day an advertisement appeared in the
city papers, respectfully inviting the public to
commit their claims and investments to the
hands of their fellow-citizen, Mr. Yusef Badra,
whose long experience in Government affairs
eminently qualified him to undertake the task of
geological research. He was especially prepared
to determine the exact amount of silver contained
in fossils. It would afford him pleasure to be of
service to his friends and fellow-citizens. The
public would be so kind as to address Mr. Badra,
at Carson City, Territory of Utah.

This looked like business on an extensive
scale. It read like business of a scientific char-
acter. It was a card drawn up with skill, and
calculated to attract attention. I am proud to
acknowledge that I am the author, and, further-

more (if you will consider the information con-
fidential), that I am the identical agent referred
to.

Many good friends shook their heads when I
announced my intention of visiting Washoe, and
although they designed going themselves as soon
as the snow was melted from the mountains,
they could not understand how a person who had
so long retained his faculties unimpaired could
give up a lucrative government office and engage
in such a wild-goose chase as that. Little did
they know of the brief but irritating document
which I carried in my pocket, and for which I
am determined some day or other to write a
satire against our system of government. I bade
them a kindly farewell, and on a fine evening,
toward the latter part of March, took my depart-
ure for Sacramento, there to take the stage for
Placerville, and from that point as fortune might
direct.

My stock in trade consisted of two pair of
blankets, a spare shirt, a plug of tobacco, a note-
book, and a paint-box. On my arrival in Placer-
ville I found the whole town in commotion.
There was not an animal to be had at any of the
stables without applying three days in advance.
The stage for Strawberry had made its last trip
in consequence of the bad condition of the road.
Every hotel and restaurant was full to overflow-
ing. The streets were blocked up with crowds
of adventurers all bound for Washoe. The gam-
bling and drinking saloons were crammed to
suffocation with customers practicing for Washoe.
The clothing stores were covered with placard?
offering to sell goods at ruinous sacrifices to
Washoe miners. The forwarding houses and
express offices were overflowing with goods and
packages marked for Washoe. The grocery
stores were making up boxes, bags, and bundles
of groceries for the Washoe trade. The stables
were constantly starting off passenger and pack
trains for Washoe. Mexican vaqueros were
driving headstrong mules through the streets
on the road to Washoe. The newspapers were
full of Washoe. In short, there was nothing but
Washoe to be seen, heard, or thought of. Every
arrival from the mountains confirmed the glad
tidings that enormous quantities of silver were
being discovered daily in Washoe. Any man
who wanted a fortune needed only to go over
there and pick it up. There was Jack Smith,
who made ten thousand dollars the other day at
a single trade ; and Tom Jenkins, twenty thou-
sand by right of discovery; and Bill Brown, forty
thousand in the tavern business, and so on.
Every body was getting rich "hand over fist."
It was the place for fortunes. No man could go
amiss. I was in search of just such a place.
It suited me to find a fortune ready made. Like
Professor Agassiz, I could not afford to make
money, but it would be no inconvenience to draw
a check on the great Washoe depository for fifty
thousand dollars or so, and proceed on my trav-
els. I would visit Japan, ascend the Amoor
Eiver, traverse Tartary, spend a few weeks in
Siberia, rest a day or so at St. Petersburg, cross

8

HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

through Russia to the Black Sea, visit Persia,
Nineveh, and Bagdad, and wind up somewhere
in Italy. I even began to look about the bar-
rooms for a map in order to lay out the route
more definitely, but the only map to be seen was
De Groot's outline of the route from Placerville
to Washoe. I went to bed rather tired after the
excitement of the day and somewhat surfeited
with Washoe. Presently I heard a tap at the
door, a head was popped through the opening.

u i BAY, CAP!"

"I say, Cap!"

"Well, what do you say?"

" Are you the man that can't get a animal for
Washoe?"

"Yes, have you got one to sell or hire?"

"No, I hain't got one myself, but me and my
pardner is going to walk there, and if you like
you can jine our party. "

"Thank yon, I have a friend who is going
with me, but I shall be very glad to have more
company."

11 All right, Cap ; good-night."

The door was closed, but presently opened
again,

"I say, Cap!"

"What now?"

" Do you believe in Washoe?"

' * Of course ; why not ?"

" Well, I suppose it's all right. Good-night,

I'm in." And my new friend left me to my
slumbers.

But who could slumber in such a bedlam,
where scores and hundreds of crack-brained peo-
ple kept rushing up and down the passage all
night, in and out of every room, banging the
doors after them, calling for boots, carpet-sacks,
cards, cock-tails, and toddies ; while amidst the
ceaseless din arose ever and anon that potent
cry of "Washoe!" which had unsettled every
brain. I turned over and over for the fiftieth
time, and at length fell into an uneasy doze. A
mountain seemed to rise before me. Millions
of rats with human faces were climbing up its
sides, some burrowing into holes, some rolling
down into bottomless pits, but all labeled Washoe.
Soon the mountain began to shake its sides with
suppressed laughter, and out of a volcano on the
top burst sheets of flame, through which jumped
ten thousand grotesque figures in the shape of
dollars with spider legs, shrieking with all their
might, "Washoe! ho! ho! Washoe! ho! ho!"

A

Surely the sounds were wonderfully real.
Tap, tap, at the door.

"I say, Cap!"

"Well, what is it?"

".'Bout time to get up if you calklate to make
Pete's ranch to-night."

So I got up, and after a cup of coffee took a
ramble on the heights, where I was amply com-
pensated for my loss of rest by the richness and
beauty of the sunrise. It was still early spring ;
the hills were covered with verdure; flowers
bloomed in all directions ; pleasant little cottages,
scattered here and there, gave a civilized aspect
to the scene, and when I looked over the busy
town, and heard the lively rattle of stages,
wagons, and buggies, and saw the long pack-
trains winding their way up the mountains, I
felt proud of California and her people. There
is not a prettier little town in the State than
Placerville, and certainly not a better class of
people any where than her thriving inhabitants.
They seemed, indeed, to be so well satisfied with
their own mining prospects that they were the
least excited of the crowd on the subject of the
new discoveries. The impulse given to business
in the town, however, was well calculated to
afford them satisfaction. This was the last
depot of trade on the way to Washoe. My ex-
cellent friend Dan Gelwicks, of the Mountain
Democrat, assured me that he was perfectly satis-
fied to spend the remainder of his days in Placer-
ville. Who that has ever visited the mountains,
or attended a political convention in Sacramento,

A PEEP AT WASHOE.

I GO IT, WASUOE!'

does not know the immortal " Dan" the truest,
best-hearted, handsomest fellow in existence;
the very cream and essence of a country editor ;
who dresses as he pleases, chews tobacco when
he pleases, writes tremendous political philippics,
knows every body, trusts every body, sets up his
own editorials, and on occasions stands ready to
do the job and press-work ! I am indebted to
"Dan" for the free use of his sanctum ; and in
consideration of his kindness and hospitality, do
hereby transfer to him all my right, title, and
interest in the Roaring Jack Claim, Wild-Cat
Ledge, Devil's Gate, which by this time must
be worth ten thousand dollars a foot.

Before we were quite ready to start our party
had increased to five ; but as each had to pur-
chase a knife, tin cup, pound of cheese, or some
other article of luxury, it was ten o'clock before
we got fairly under way. And here I must say
that, although our appearance as we passed along
the main street of Placerville elicited no higher
token of admiration than "Go it, Washoe!"
such a party, habited and accoutred as we were,
would have made a profound sensation in Hyde
Park, London, or even on Broadway, New York.

The road was in good condition, barring a little
mud in the neighborhood of " Hangtown ;" and
the day was exceedingly bright and pleasant.
As I ascended the first considerable elevation in
the succession of heights which extend all the
way for a distance of fifty miles to the summit
of the Sierra Nevada, and cast a look bac-k over
the foot-hills, a more glorious scene of gigantic
forests, open valleys, and winding streams sel-
dom greeted my vision. The air was singularly

pure and bracing every draught of it was equal
to a glass of sparkling Champagne. At inter-
vals, varying from fifty yards to half a mile,
streams of water of crystal clearness and icy
coolness burst from the mountain sides, mak-
ing a pleasant music as they crossed the road.
Whether the clay was uncommonly warm, or the
exercise rather heating, or the packs very heavy,
it was beyond doubt some of the party were
afflicted with a chronic thirst, for they stopped
to drink at every spring and rivulet on the way,
giving rise to a suspicion in my mind that they
had not been much accustomed to that whole-
some beverage of late. This suspicion was
strengthened by a mysterious circumstance. I
had lagged behind at a turn of the road to adjust
my pack, when I was approached by the unique
personage whose head in the door-way had star-
tled me the night before.

"I say, Cap!" At the same time pulling
from the folds of his blanket a dangerous-look-
ing "pocket pistol," he put the muzzle to his
mouth and discharged the main portion of the
contents down his throat.

" What d'ye say, Cap ?"

Now I claim to be under no legal obligation
to state what I said or did on that occasion ; but
this much I am willing to avow : that upon re-
suming our journey there was a glorious sense
of freedom and independence in our adventurous
mode of life. The fresh air, odorous with the
scent of pine forests and wild flowers ; the crag-
gy rocks overhung with the grape and the morn-
ing glory ; the merry shouts of the Mexican ra-
queros, mingled with the wild dashing of the

10

HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

THE POCKET PISTOL.

river down the canon on our right ; the free ex-
ercise of every muscle ; the consciousness of ex-
emption from all further restraints of office,
were absolutely inspiring. I think a lyrical
poem would not have exceeded my powers on
that occasion. Every faculty seemed invigor-
ated to the highest pitch of perfection. Hang
the dignity of office ! A murrain upon party
politicians and inspector-generals ! To the bot-
tomless pit with all vouchers, abstracts, and ac-
counts current ! I scorn that meagre and brain-
less style of the heads of the Executive Depart-
ments, " SIR, Your services are no longer "
What dunce could not write a more copious let-
ter than that ? Who would be a slave when all
nature calls upon him in trumpet-tones to be
free ? Who would sell his birth-right for a mess
of pottage, when he could lead the life of an
honest miner earn his bread by the sweat of
his brow breathe the fresh air of heaven with-
out stint or limit ? And of all miners in the
world, who would not be a Washoe miner?
Beyond question this was a condition of mind
to be envied and admired ; and, notwithstand-
ing the two pair of heavy blankets on my back,
and a stiff pair of boots on my feet that gall-

ed my ankles most
grievously, I really
felt lighter and
brighter than for
years past. Nor
did it seem surpris-
ing to me then that
so many restless men
should abandon the
haunts of civiliza-
tion and seek vari-
ety and freedom in
the wilderness of
rugged mountains
comprising the min-
ing districts of the
Sierra Nevada. The
life of the miner is
one of labor, peril,
and exposure : but
it possesses the fas-
cinating element of
liberty, and the
promise of unlimit-
ed reward. In the
midst of privations
amounting, at times,
to the verge of starv-
ation, what glowing
visions fill the mind
of the toiling adven-
turer ! Richer in
anticipation than the
richest of his fel-
low-beings, he builds
golden palaces, and
scatters them over
the world with a
princely hand. He
may not be a man

of imagination ; but in the secret depths of his
soul there is a latent hope that some day or oth-
er he will strike a " lead," and who knows but
it may be a solid mountain of gold, spangled
with diamonds ?

The road from Placerville to Strawberry Flat
is for the most part graded, and no doubt is a
very good road in summer ; but it would be a
violation of conscience to recommend it in the
month of April. The melting of the accumu-
lated snows of the past winter had partially
washed it away, and what remained was deeply
furrowed by the innumerable streams that sought
an outlet in the ravines. In many places it
seemed absolutely impracticable for wheeled ve-
hicles ; but it is an article of faith with Califor-
nia teamsters that wherever a horse can go a
wagon can follow. There were some excep-
tions to this rule, however, for the road was lit-
erally lined with broken-down stages, wagons,
and carts, presenting every variety of aspect,
from the general smash-up to the ordinary cap-
size. Wheels had taken rectangular cuts to the
bottom ; broken tongues projected from the mud ;
loads of dry-goods and whisky-barrels lay wal-
lowing in the general wreck of matter ; stout

A PEEP AT WASHOE.

CAKAMfJO ! CARAJA ! SACRAMENTO ! SANTA MARIA ! DIAVOLO 1

beams cut from the roadside were scattered here
and there, having served in vain efforts to extri-
cate the wagons from the oozy mire. Occasion-
ally these patches of bad road extended for miles,
and here the scenes were stirring in the highest
degree. Whole trains of pack-mules struggled
frantically to make the transit 'from one dry
point to another ; "burros," heavily laden, were
frequently buried up to the neck, and had to be
hauled out by main force. Now and then an
enterprising mule would emerge from the mud,
and, by attempting to keep the edge of the road,
lose his foothold, and go rolling to the bottom of
the canon, pack and all. Amidst the confusion
worse confounded the cries and maledictions
of the vaqueros were perfectly overwhelming ;
but when the mules stuck fast in the mud, and
it became necessary to unpack them, then it was
that the vaqueros shone out most luminously.
They shouted, swore, beat the mules, kicked
them, pulled them, pushed them, swore again ;
and when all these resources failed, tore their
hair and resorted to prayer and meditation.
Above is a faint attempt at the vaquero sliding-
gcale.

It will doubtless be a consolation to some of
these unhappy vaqueros to know that such of
their mules as they failed to extricate from the
mud during the winter, may, during the ap-
proaching summer, find their way out through
the cracks. Should any future traveler be over-
taken by thirst, and see a pair of ears growing
out of the road, he will be safe in digging there,
for underneath stands a mule, and on the back
of that mule is a barrel of whisky.

Owing to repeated stoppages on the way,
night overtook us at a place called "Dirty
Mike's." Here we found a ruinously dilapi-
dated frame shanty, the bar, of course, being
the main feature. Next to the bar was the
public bedroom, in which there was every ac-

commodation except beds, bedding, chairs, ta-
bles, and wash-stands ; that is to say, there was
a piece of looking-glass nailed against the win-
dow-frame, and the general comb and tooth-
brush hanging by strings from a neighboring
post.

A very good supper of pork and beans, fried
potatoes, and coffee, was served up for us on very
dirty plates, by Mike's cook ; and after doing it
ample justice, we turned in on our blankets and
slept soundly till morning. It was much in fa-
vor of our landlord that he charged us only
double the customary price. I would cheerful-
ly give him a recommendation if he would only
wash his face and his plates once or twice a
week.

The ascent of the mountains is gradual and
continuous the entire distance to Strawberry.
After the first day's journey there is but little
variety in the scenery. On the right, a fork
of the American River plunges down through a
winding cauon, its force and volume augmented

WHISKY BELOW.

HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

BOAKD AND LODGING.

at short intervals by numerous smaller streams
rhat cross the road, and by others from the op-
posite side. Thick forests of pine loom up on
each side, their tops obscuring the sky. A few
patches of snow lay along our route on the first
day, but on the second snow was visible on both
sides of the canon.

The succession of scenes along the road af-
forded us constant entertainment. In every
gulch and ravine a tavern was in process of
erection. Scarcely a foot of ground upon which
man or beast could find a foothold was exempt
from a claim. There were even bars with
liquors, offering a tempting place of refreshment
to the weary traveler where no vestige of a house
was yet perceptible. Board and lodging signs
over tents not more than ten feet square were
as common as blackberries in June ; and on no
part of the road was there the least chance of
suffering from the want of whisky, dry-goods, or
cigars.

An almost continuous string of Washoeites
stretched " like a great snake dragging its slow
length along" as far as the eye could reach. In
the course of this day's tramp we passed parties

of every description and col-
or : Irishmen, wheeling their
blankets, provisions, and
mining implements on wheel-
barrows ; American, French,
and German foot-passengers,
leading heavily-laden horses,
or carrying their packs on
their backs, and their picks
and shovels slung across their
shoulders; Mexicans, driving
long trains of pack-mriles,
and swearing fearfully, as
usual, to keep them in or-
der ; dapper-looking gentle-
men, apparently from San
Francisco, mounted on fan-
cy horses ; women, in men's
clothes, mounted on mules
or "burros;" Pike County
specimens, seated on piles of
furniture and goods in great,
lumbering wagons ; whisky-
peddlers, with their bar- fix-
tures and whisky on mule-
back, stopping now and then
to quench the thirst of the
toiling multitude ; organ-
grinders, carrying their or-
gans ; drovers, riding, rav-
ing, and tearing away fran-
tically through the brush aft-
er droves of self-willed cattle
designed for the shambles ;
in short, every imaginable
class, and every possible spe-
cies of industry, was repre-
sented in this moving pa-
geant. It was a striking
and impressive spectacle to
see, in full competition with
youth and strength, the most pitiable specimens
of age and decay white-haired old men, gasp-
ing for breath as they dragged their palsied limbs
after them in the exciting race of avarice ; crip-
ples and hunchbacks ; even sick men from their
beds all stark mad for silver.

But the tide was not setting entirely in the
direction of Carson Valley. A counter-current
opposed our progress, in the shape of saddle-
trains without riders, long lines of pack-mules
laden with silver ore, scattering parties of weath-
er-beaten and foot-sore pedestrians, bearing their
hard experience in their faces, and solitary strag-
glers, of all ages and degrees, mounted on skel-
eton horses, or toiling wearily homeward on foot
some merry, some sad, some eagerly intent on
further speculation ; but all bearing the unmis-
takable impress of Washoe.

Among the latter, a lank, leathery-looking
fellow, doubtless from the land of wooden nut-
megs, was shambling along through the mud,
talking to himself apparently for want of more
congenial fellowship. I was about to pass him.
when he arrested my attention :
" Look here, stranger !"

A PEEP AT WASHOE.

ra

I looked.

" You're bound
for Washoe, I reck-
on?"

I was bound for
Washoe.

"What line of
business be you go-
in' into there?"

Was not quite
certain, but thought
it would be the
Agency line.

"Ho! the Agen-
cy line stage agent
maybe? Burche's
line, I guess?"

That was not it
exactly; but no mat-
ter. Perhaps I could
do something for
him in Washoe.

"Nothing, stran-
ger, except to keep
dark. Do you know
the price of grind-
stones in Placer-
ville?"

I didn't know the
price of grindstones
in Placerville, but
supposed they might
be cheap, as there
were plenty there.

" That's my hand
exactly!" said my
friend, with an in-
ward chuckle of sat-
isfaction. I expressed some curiosity to know
in what respect the matter of grindstones suit-
ed his hand so well ; when looking cautiously
around, he drew near, and informed me confi-
dentially that he had struck a "good thing" in
Washoe. He had only been there a month, and
had made a considerable pile. There was a dread-
ful scarcity of grindstones there, and, seeing that
miners, carpenters, and mechanics of all sorts
were hard up for something to sharpen their tools
on, he had secured the only grindstone that could
be had, which was pretty well used up when he
got it. But he rigged it up ship-shape and Bris-
tol-fashion, and set up a grinding business, which
brought him in from twenty to thirty dollars a
day, till nothing was left of the stone. Now he
was bound to Placerville in search of a good
one, with which he intended to return immedi-
ately. I wished him luck and proceeded on my
way, wondering what would turn up next.

It was not long before I was stopped by an-
other enterprising personage ; but this was al-
together a different style of man. There was
something brisk and spruce in his appearance,
in spite of a shirt far gone in rags and a shock
of hair that had long been a stranger to the
scissors. What region of country he .came
from it was impossible to say. I think he was

GRINDSTONES.

a cosmopolite, and belonged to the world gen-
erally.

"Say, Colonel!" this was his style of ad-
dress " on the way to Washoe ?"

"Yes."

"Excuse me: I have a little list of claims
here, Colonel, which I would like to show you ;"
and he pulled from his shirt-pocket a greasy
package of papers, which he dexterously unfold-
ed. " Guess you're from San Francisco Colo-
nel ? Here is let me see

200 feet in the Pine Nut,
300 feet in the Grizzly Ledge,
150 feet in the Gouge Eye,
125 feet in the Wild-Cat,
100 feet in the Root-Hojr-or-Die

50 feet in the Bobtail Hor?e,

25 feet in the Hell Roaring;

and many others, Colonel, in the best leads.
Now the fact is, d'ye see, I'm a little hard up,
and want to make a raise. I'll sell all, or a
part, at a considerable sacrifice for a small
amount of ready cash."

" How much do you want ?"

" Why, if I could raise twenty dollars or so it
would answer my present purpose ; I'll sell you
twenty feet in any of these claims for that
amount. Every foot of them is worth a thou-

u

HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

A 8PECTJLATOB.

sand dollars ; but dye see, they're not yet de-
veloped."

Circumstances forced me to decline this offer,
much to the disgust of the enterprising specu-
lator in claims, who assured me I might go far-
ther and fare worse ; but somehow the names
did not strike me as attractive in a mineral point
of view.

I had by this time lost the run of all my com-
rades, and was obliged to pursue my journey
alone. Three had gone ahead, and the other
was nearly used up. The dav had opened fair-
ly, but now there were indications of bad weath-
er. It was quite dark when I reached a small
shanty about four miles from Strawberry. Here
I halted till my remaining comrade came up.
The proprietor of the shanty was going into the
tavern business, and was engaged in building a
large clap-board house. His men were all at
supper, and in reply to our application for lodg-
ings, he told us we might sleep in the calf-pen
if we liked, but there was no room in the house.
He could give us something to eat after his work-
men were done supper, but not before. He had
brandy and gin, but no tea to spare. On the
whole, he thought we had better go on to Straw-
berry.

Now this was en-
couraging. It was
already pattering
down rain, and the
calf-pen to which he
directed us was knee-
deep in mud and ma-
nure, without roof or
shelter of any kind.
Even the unfortunate
progeny of the old
cow, which ran bel-
lowing around the
fence, in motherly so-
licitude for her off-
spring, shivered with
cold, and made pite-
ous appeals to this
hard-hearted man. I
finally bribed him. by
means of a gold dol-
lar to let us have a
small piece of bread
and a few swallows of
tea. Thus refreshed,
we resumed our jour-
ney.

Four miles more of
slush and snow; up
hill nearly all the
way, across rickety
bridges, over roaring
cataracts, slippery
rocks, stumps, and
brush, through acres
of black oozy mire;
and so dark a bat
could scarcely recog-
nize his own father!

It was a walk to be remembered. The man in
the shanty, if he possess a spark of humanity,
will, I trust, feel bitterly mortified when he
reads this article. He caused me some gloomy
reflections upon human nature, which have been
a constant source of repentance ever since. But
consider the provocation. The rain poured down
heavily, mingled with a cutting sleet ; a dole-
ful wind came moaning through the pines ; our
blankets were wet through, and not a stitch upon
our backs left dry : even my spare shirt was soak-
ing the strength out of the plug of tobacco so
carefully stowed away in its folds, and my paints
were giving it what aid they could in the way of
color.

Well, there is an end to all misery upon
earth, and so there was to this day's walk. A
light at length glimmered through the pines,
first faint and flickering, then a full blaze, then
half a dozen brilliant lights, which proved to be
camp fires under the trees, and soon we stood in
front of a large and substantial log-house. This
was the famous "Strawberry," known through-
out the length and breadth of the land as the
best stopping-place on the route to Washoe, and
the last station before crossing the summit of the
Sierra Nevada. The winter road for wheel-

A PEEP AT WASHOE.

vehicles here ended ; and indeed it may be said
to have ended some distance below, for the last
twelve miles of the road seemed utterly imprac-
ticable for wagons. At least, most of those I saw
were fast in the mud, and likely to remain there
till the beginning of summer. Dark and rainy
as it was, there were crowds scattered around
the house, as if they had some secret and pos-
itive enjoyment in the contemplation of the
weather. Edging our way through, we found
the bar-room packed as closely as it could be
without bursting out some of the walls ; and of
all the motley gangs that ever happened togeth-
er within a space of twenty feet, this certainly
was the most extraordinary and the most mot-
ley. Dilapidated gentlemen with slouched hats
and big boots, Jew peddlers dripping wet, red-
shirted miners, teamsters, vaqueros, packers,
and traders, swearing horribly at nothing ; some
drinking at the bar, some warming themselves
before a tremendous log-fire that sent up a reek-

! ing steam from the conglomerated mass of wet
and muddy clothes to say nothing of the boots

' and socks that lay simmering near the coals. A
few bare and sore footed outcasts crouched down
in the corners, trying to catch a nap, and here
and there a returned Washoeite, describing in
graphic language, garnished with oaths, the won-
ders and beauties of Virginia City. But chiefly
remarkable in the crowd was the regiment of
light infantry, pressed in double file against the
dining-room door, awaiting the fourth or fifth
charge at the table.

At the first tinkle of the bell the door was
burst open with a tremendous crash, and for a
moment no battle-scene in Waterloo, no charge
at Besaca de la Palma or the heights of Chapul-
tepec, no Crimean avalanche of troops dealing
death and destruction around them, could have
equaled the terrific onslaught of the gallant
troops of Strawberry. The whole house actual-
ly tottered and trembled at the concussion, as

DINMEB AT 8TBAWBKEBY.

16

HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

THE U LAY OUT."

if shaken by an earthquake. Long before the
main body had assaulted the table the din of
arms was heard above the general uproar; the
deafening clatter of plates, knives, and forks,
and the dreadful battle-cry of " Waiter ! Wait-
er! Pork and beans! Coffee, waiter! Beef-
steak ! Sausages ! Potatoes ! Ham and eggs
quick, waiter, for God's sake !" It was a scene
of destruction and carnage long to be remember-
ed. I had never before witnessed a battle, but
I now understood how men could become mad-
dened by the smell of blood. When the table
was vacated it presented a shocking ^cene of des-
olation. Whole dishes were swept of their con-
tents ; coffee-pots were discharged to the dregs ;
knives, forks, plates, and spoons lay in a con-
fused mass among the bones and mutilated rem-
nants of the dead ; chunks of bread and hot bis-
cuit were scattered broadcast, and mince-pies
were gored into fragments ; tea-cups and saucers

were capsized; and the waiters, hot, red, and
steamy, were panting and swearing after their
superhuman labors.

Half an hour more and the battle-field was
again cleared for action. This was the sixth
assault committed during the evening; but it
was none the less terrible on that account. In-
spired by hunger, I joined the army of invaders
this time, and by gigantic efforts of strength
maintained an honorable position in the ranks.
As the bell sounded we broke ! I fixed my eye
on a chair, rushed through the struggling mass,
threw out my hands frantically to seize it ; but
alas ! it was already captured. A dark-visaged
man, who looked as if he carried concealed weap-
ons on his person, was seated in it, shouting
hoarsely the battle-cry of "Pork and beans!
Waiter! Coffee, waiter!" Up and down the
table it was one gulping mass, jaws distended,
arms stretched out, knives, forks, and even the

A PEEP AT WASHOE.

17

bare hands plunged into the enemy. Not a
spot was vacant. I venture to assert that from
the commencement of the assault till the capture
and complete investment of the fortifications did
not exceed five seconds. The storming of the
Malakoff and the fall of Sebastopol could no
longer claim a place in history.

At length fortune favored the brave. I got a
seat at the next onslaught, and took ample satis-
faction for the delay by devouring such a meal
as none but a hardy Washoeite could be expected
to digest. Pork and beans, cabbage, beef-steak,
sausages, pies, tarts, coifee and tea, eggs, etc.
these were only a few of the luxuries furnished
by the enterprising proprietor of the "Straw-
berry." May every blessing attend that great
benefactor of mankind ! I say it in all sincer-
ity, he is a great and good man, a Websterian
inn-keeper, for he thoroughly understands the
constitution. I would give honorable mention
to his name if I knew it : but it matters not ;
his house so far surpasses the Metropolitan or the
St. Nicholas that there is no comparison in the
relish with which the food is devoured. In re-
spect to sleeping accommodations there may be
some difference in their favor. I was too late
to secure a bed in the general bedroom up stairs,
where two hundred and fifty tired wayfarers were
already snoring in double-shotted bunks,
2X6; but the landlord was a man of inex-
haustible resources. A private whisper in
his ear made him a friend forever. He
nodded sagaciously and led me into a small
parlor, about 15 X 20, in which he gave my
company of five what he called a "lay-out,"
that is to say, a lay-out on the floor with
our own blankets for beds and covering.
This was a special favor, and I would have
cherished it in my memory for years had
not a suspicion been aroused in my mind
before the lapse of half an hour that there
were others in the confidence of mine host.
Scarcely had I entered upon the first nap
when somebody undertook to walk upon
me, commencing on my head and ending
on the pit of my stomach. I grasped him
firmly by the leg. He apologized at once
in the most abject manner; and well for
him he did, for it was enough to incense
any man to be suddenly roused up in that
manner. The intruder, I discovered, was
a Jew peddler. He offered me a cigar,
which I smoked in token of amity ; and in
the mean time he turned in alongside and
smoked another. When daylight broke I
cast around me to see what every body was
doing to create such a general commotion.
I perceived that there were about forty
sleepers, all getting up. Boots, strongly
scented with feet and stockings of every
possible degree of odor, were lying loose in
all directions ; blankets, packs, old clothes,
and ragged shirts, and I don't know what
all a palpable violation of the landlord's
VOL. XXII. No. 127. B

implied compact. True, he had not agreed to
furnish a single bed for five, but he never hinted
that he was going to put forty men, of all sorts
and sizes, in the same general "lay-out," as he
was pleased to style it, and that only large enough
for half the number. Once, in Minnesota, I
slept in a bed with eight, and gave considerable
offense to my landlord when I remonstrated
against his putting in a ninth. He said he like^
to see a man "accommodating" a reflection
upon my good-nature which I considered wholly
unwarranted by the circumstances. But this
was even a stronger case.

The Jew-peddler had not undressed, and, not
to judge him harshly, I don't think he ever did
undress. He was soon up, and left, as I sup-
pose, while I was dressing. With him departed
my stockings. They were not very fine per-
haps, considering the muddy road, not very
clean ; but they were all I had, and were valua-
ble beyond gold or silver in this foot-weary land.
I never saw them more. What aggravated the
offense, when I came to review it seriously, was,
that I remembered having seen him draw just
such a pair over his boots, as a protection against
the snow, without the remotest suspicion of the
great wrong he was doing me.

We shall meet this Stocking-Thief again.

TUB 6TOOKING-THIE*.

144

HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

rr>HE OPERA CLOAK represented on the preceding
J- page is one of the prime favorites of the season.
The elegance of the sleeves in particular excites
special admiration. The garment is composed of
white merino, lined with pink taffeta, and orna-
mented with tassels and fringe in colors to match.
A style of garment very similar to this, adapted for
the street, is made of black velvet. One of this
description, with a crochet-headed fringe and black
silk lining, has been much admired.

FURS. The leading authority upon this important
article of winter costume reports that there will be,
this season, only slight modifications upon former
styles : the chief variations being that full capes and
victorines are somewhat deeper, and the number of
tails are increased to eight or ten. The Russian
Sable, of course, still retains its aristocratic position
over the more common and less expensive materials.
Next in order of precedency comes the Hudson Bay
Sable ; while Mink, Stone-Martin, and Fitch follow
in order of rank. From these varied materials our
friends will find no difficulty in graduating their
purchases in such a manner as to meet their special
tastes and the exigencies of their porte-monnaies.
We may add, by way of hint, that the Victorine may
be safely chosen by those who, for any reason, do
not choose to adopt the more ample, and therefore
more expensive styles the Full Cape or the Half
Cape. Our illustrations present all that need be
specified respecting these various forms. As to
Muffs, there is no change of exterior form ; but ac-
cording to the latest mode the lining is arranged in
such a manner that it is closed in the middle, form-
ing separate compartments for the hands, so that the
one which is in the muff is not liable to be chilled j
on the withdrawal of the other. I

FIGURE 2. HALF CAPE.

FIGURE 3. VICTORINE.

FIGURE 4. FULL CAPE.

HARPER'S

NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

NO, CXXVIIL-JANUARY, 1861,-VOL XXII,

A PEEP AT WASHOE.

BY J. ROSS BROWNE.

[.SeconTr

CAIISON CITY.

(J

PON taking an observation from the front
door at Strawberry, we were rather startled
to find that the whole place was covered with
snow to the depth of two or three feet. The

pack trains had given up all hope of getting ovei
the mountain. It was snowing hard, and the
appearance of the weather was dark and threat-
ening. To be housed up hero with three or

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by Harper and Brothers, in the Clerk's Office of the Dis-
trict Court for the Southern District of New York.

VOL. XXII. No. 128. K

146

HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

THE TRAIL FKOM 6TBAWI3EKBY.

four hundred men, and the additional numbers
that might be expected before night, was not a
pleasant prospect ; but to be caught in a snow-
storm on the summit, where so many had per-
ished during the past winter, was worse still.
Upon reviewing the chances I resolved to start,
and if the storm continued I thought there would
be no difficulty in finding the way back. It was
eight miles of a continuous and precipitous ascent
to the summit, and three miles from that point
to the Lake House in Lake Valley, where the
accommodations were said to be the worst on the
whole trail.

A few miles from Strawberry one of the par-
ty gave out in consequence of sore feet; the
other two pushed on, despite the storm which
now raged fearfully, but had not proceeded far
when they were forced to turn back. I was
loth to leave my disabled friend, and returned
with him to Strawberry, where we had a repeti-
tion of nearly all that has already been described,
only a little intensified in consequence of in-
creased numbers. The others of our party
stopped somewhere on the road, and I did not
meet them again until next afternoon at Wood-
ford's, on theSother side of the mountain.

As soon as it was light next morning I took

another observation of the
weather. It was still snow-
ing, but not so heavily as on
the preceding day. My re-
maining partner was by this
time completely crippled in
his feet, and had to hire a
horse at the rate of twen-
ty dollars for twenty-five
miles.

I was delayed some hours
in getting off, owing to the
pressure of the forces at the
breakfast-table ; but finally
made a fair start for the
summit. My pack had be-
come a source of consider-
able inconvenience. I was
accustomed to walking, but
not to carrying a burden
of twenty or twenty -five
pounds. My shoulders and
ankles were so galled that
every step had to be made
on the nicest calculation;
but the new snow on top of
the old trail began to melt
as soon as the sun came out,
making a very bad trail for
pedestrians. Two miles
from Strawberry we crossed
a bridge, and struck for the
summit.

Here we had need of all
our powers of endurance.
It was a constant struggle
through melted snow arid
mud slipping, sliding,
grasping, rolling, tumbling,
and climbing, up again and still up, till it verily
seemed as if we must be approaching the clouds.
The most prominent peculiarity of these mount-
ains is, that a person on foot, with a heavy load
on his back, is never at the top when he imag- .
ines he is; the "divide" is always a little far-
ther on, and a little higher up at least until he
passes it, which he does, entirely ignorant of the
fact. There is really no perceptible ' ' divide ; "
you pass a series of elevations, and commence
the descent without any apparent difference in
the trail.

The pack trains had broken through the old
snow in many places, leaving deep holes, which,
being now partially covered with recent snow,
proved to be regular man-traps often bringing
up the unwary pedestrian ' ' all standing. " The
sudden wrenching of the feet in the smaller holes,
which had been explored by the legs of horses,
mules, and cattle, was an occurrence of even-
ten or a dozen steps. In many places the trail
was perfectly honey-combed with holes, where
the heavily-laden animals had cut through the
snow ; and it was exceedingly difficult to find a
foothold. To step on either side and avoid
these bad places would seem easy enough, but I
tried it on more than one occasion and got very

A PEEP AT WASHOE.

147

nearly buried alive. All along the route, at in-
tervals of a mile or two, we continued to meet
pack trains ; and as every body had to give way
before them, the tumbling out and plunging in
the snow were very lively.

I walked on rapidly in the hope of making
Woodford's the station on the eastern slope of
the mountain before night, and by degrees got
ahead of the main body of footmen, who had left
Strawberry that morning. In a narrow gorge,
a short distance from the commencement of the
descent into Lake Valley, I happened to look up
a little to the right, where, to my astonishment,
I perceived four large brown wolves sitting on
their haunches not over twenty feet from me!
They seemed entirely unconcerned at my pres-
ence, except in so far as they may have indulged
in some speculation as to the amount of flesh
contained on my body. As I was entirely un-
armed, I thought it would be but common polite-
ness to speak to them, so I gave them a yell in
the Indian* language. At this they retired a
short distance, but presently came back again as
if to inquire the exact meaning of my salutation.
I now thought it best not to .be too intimate, for
I saw that they were getting rather familiar on
a short acquaintance; and picking up a stick
of wood, I made a rush
and a yell at them
which must have been
formidable in the ex-
treme. This time they
retreated more rapid-
ly, and seemed unde-
cided about returning.
At this crisis in affairs
a pack train came
along, the driver of
which had a pistol.
Upon pointing out the
wolves to him he fired,
but missed them. They
then retreated up the
side of the mountain,
and I saw nothing more
of them.

The descent of the
" grade" was the next
rough feature in our
day's journey. From
the point overlooking
Lake Valley the view
is exceedingly fine.
Lake Bigler a sheet
of water forty or fifty
miles in length by ten
or fifteen wide lies
embosomed in the
.mountains in full view
from this elevation ;
but there was a driz-
zling sleet which ob-
scured it on this oc-
casion. I had a fine
sight of it on my re-
turn, however, and

have seldom witnessed any scene in Europe or
elsewhere to compare with it in extent and
grandeur.

The trail on the grade was slippery with sleet,
and walking upon it was out of the question.
Running, jumping, and sliding were the only
modes of locomotion at all practicable. I tried
one of the short cuts, and found it an expeditious
way of getting to the bottom. Some trifling ob-
struction deprived me of the use of my feet at the
very start, after which I traveled down in a se-
ries of gyrations at once picturesque and com-
plicated. When I reached the bottom I was en-
tirely unable to comprehend how it had all hap-
pened ; but there I was, pack and baggage, all
safely delivered in the snow bones sound, and
free of expense.

At the Lake House a tolerably good-sized
shanty at the foot of the grade we found a large
party assembled, taking their ease as they best
could in such a place, without much to eat
and but little to drink, except old-fashioned tar-
entula-juice, " warranted to kill at forty paces."

The host of the Lake was in a constant state
of nervous excitement, and did more scolding,
swearing, gouging, and general hotel work, in
the brief space of half an hour, than any man I

'WE AEE WAITING FOK YOU.'

148

HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

A 8IIOST CUT.

ever saw. He seemed to be quite worn-out with
his run of customers from a hundred to three
hundred of a night, and nowhere to stow 'em
all cussin' at him for not keepin' provisions : and
how could he, when they ate him clean out every
day, and some of 'em never paid him, and never
will?

I was not sorry to
get clear of the Lake
House, its filth, audits
troubles.

Upon crossing the
valley, which is here
about a mile wide, the
ascent of the next sum-
mit commences. Here
we had almost a rep-
etition of the main
summit, except that
the descent on the oth-
er side is more grad-
ual.

At length we struck
the beginning of Hope
Valley. I shall al-
ways remember this
portion of the journey
as the worst I ever
traveled on foot. Ev-
ery yard of the trail
was honey-combed to
the depth of two or
three feet. On the
edges there was no
foothold at all ; and
occasionally we had to
wade knee- deep in
black, sticky mire,
from which it was dif-
ficult to extricate one's
feet and boots at the
same time. I was glad
enough when myself
and two casual ac-
quaintances succeeded

in reaching the solitary log-house which stands
near the middle of the valley.

I little expected to find in this wilderness a
! philosopher of the old school ; but here was a
man who had evidently made up his mind to
withstand all the allurements of wealth, and de-
vote the remainder of his life to ascetic reflec-
tions upon the follies of mankind. Diogenes in
his tub was not more rigorous in his seclusion
than this isolated inhabitant of Hope Valley.
His log-cabin, to be sure, was some improve-
ment, in extent, upon the domicile of that famous
philosopher ; but in point of architectural style,
I don't know that there could have been much
advantage either way.

A few empty bags, and a bar entirely desti-
tute of bottles, with a rough bench to sit upon,
comprised all the furniture that was visible to
the naked eye. From a beam overhead hung a
bunch of fox-skins, which emitted a very gamy
odor ; and the clny floor had apparently never
been swept, save by the storms that had passed
over it before the cabin was built. A couple of
rifles hung upon pegs projecting from the chim-
ney, and a powder-flask was the only mantle-
piece ornament. Diogenes sat, or rather re-
clined, on the piie of empty sacks, holding by

A PEEP AT WASHOE.

140

the neck a fierce bull-dog. The sanguinary
propensities of this animal were manifested by
repeated attempts to break away, and seize some-
body by the throat or the leg : not that he
growled, or snarled, or showed any puppyish
symptoms of a trifling kind; but there was a
playful switching of his tail and a leer of the eye
uncommonly vicious and tiger-like. It certain-
ly would _not have taken him more than two
minutes to hamstring the stoutest man in the
party.

crossed in love. His style had the merit of be-
ing terse, but his manner was sarcastic to the
verge of impoliteness.

"Well, I suppose we can warm ourselves at
the fire?"

"If you can," quoth Diogenes, "you can do
more than I can;" and here he hauled his
blanket over his shoulders, and fell back on the
empty potato-sacks as if there was no more to be
said on that or any other subject.

The bull-dog seemed to be of the same way

Between the dog and his master there was a of thinking, and quietly laid down by his master;

very striking congeniality of disposition, if one
might judge by the expression of their respective
countenances. It would apparently have taken
but little provocation to make either of them
bite.

Battered and bruised as we were, and hungry
into the bargain, after our hard struggle over
the mountain, it became a matter of vital im-
portance that Ave should secure lodgings for the
night, and, if possible, get something to eat.
The place looked rather unpromising ; but after
our experience in Lake Valley we were not easi-
ly discouraged. Upon broaching the subject to*
Diogenes, in the mildest possible manner, his
brow darkened, as if a positive insult to his
common sense had been attempted.

" Stay here all night !" he repeated, savagely.
"What the h 11 do you want to stay here all
night for?"

We hinted at a disposition to sleep, and
thought he might possibly have room on the
floor for our blankets.

At this he snapped his fingers contemptuous-
ly, and muttered, "Can't come that over me!
I've been here too long for that!"

"But we are willing to pay you whatever is
fair."

"Pay? Who said I wanted pay? Do I
look like a man that wants money ?"

We thought not.

"If I wanted money," continued Diogenes,
" I could have made fifty dollars a day for the
last two months. But I ask no favors of the
world. Some of 'em wants to stay here whether
I will or no ; I rather think I'm too many for
any of that sort eh, Bull ? what d'ye say ?"
Bull growl eft, with a blood-thirsty meaning.
"Too many altogether, gents me and Bull."

There was a sturdy independence about this
fellow, and a scorn for filthy lucre that rather
astonished me as a citizen of a money-loving
State.

" Well, if you can't let us stay all night, per-
haps you can get us up a snack of dinner?"

"Snack of dinner?" and here there was a
guttural chuckle that boded failure again "I
tell you this ain't a tavern ; and, if it was, my
cook's gone out to take a airing*"

" But have you nothing in the house to eat?"

"Oh yes, there's a bunch of fox-skins. If
you'd like some of 'em cooked, I'll bile 'em for
you. "

This man's disposition had evidently been
soured in earlv life. I think he must have been

still, however, keeping his eye on us, as sus-
picious characters.

Nothing remained but to push on for Wood-
ford's, distant six miles.

Now, when you come to put six miles on the
end of a day's journey such as ours had been, it
becomes a serious matter. Besides, it was
growing late, and a terrific wind, accompanied
by a blinding sleet, rendered it scarcely prac-
ticable to stand up, much less to walk. I do
not know how we ever staggered over that six
miles. The last three, however, were down-
hill, and not so bad, as the snow was pretty well
gone from the canon -on the approach to Wood-
ford's.

This is the last station on the way over from
Carson, and forms the upper terminus of that
valley. It is supposed to be in Utah, but our
landlord could not tell us exactly where the
boundary line ran.

We found here several hundred people, bound
in both directions, and passed a very rough night,
trying to get a little sleep amidst the motley and
noisy crowd.

I had endured the journey thus far very well,
and had gained considerably in strength and ap-
petite. The next day, however, upon striking
into the sand of Carson Valley, my feet became
terribly blistered, and the walking was exceed-
ingly painful. There are some good farms in
the upper part of the valley, between Woodford's
and Genoa, though the general aspect of the
country is barren in the extreme.

By sundown I had made only fifteen miles,
and still was three miles from Genoa. Even-
hundred yards was now, equal to a mile. At
length I found it utterly impossible to move an-
other step. It was quite dark, and there was
nothing for it but to sit down on the road-side.
Fortunately, the weather was comparatively
mild. As I was meditating how to pass the
night, I perceived a hot spring close by, toward
which I crept ; and finding the water strongly
impregnated with salt, it occurred to me that it
might benefit my feet. I soon plunged them in,
and in half an hour found them so much im-
proved that I was enabled to resume my journey.
An hour more and I was snugly housed at Genoa.

This was a place of some importance during
the time of the Mormon settlements, but had not
kept pace with Carson City in the general im-
provement caused by the recent discoveries. At
present it contained a population of not more
than two or three hundred, chiefly store-keepers,

150

HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

teamsters, and workmen employed upon a neigh-
boring saw-mill. The inhabitants professed to
be rich in silver lead, but upon an examination
of the records to find the lead in which my San
Francisco friend had invested, and which was
represented to be in this district, I was unable to
find any trace of it ; and there was no such name
as that of the alleged owner known or ever heard
of in Genoa. In fact, as I afterward ascertained,
it was purely a fictitious name, and the whole
transaction was one of those Peter Funk swin-
dles so often practiced upon the unwary during
this memorable era of swindles. I don't know
how my friend received the intelligence, but I
reported it to him without a solitary mitigating
circumstance. Had I met with the vile mis-
creant who had imposed upon <him, I should
have felt bound to resort to personal measures
of satisfaction, in consideration of the fund ex-
pended by my friend on the expenses of this
Commission of Inquiry. The deeds were so ad-
mirably drawn, and the names written so legi-
bly, that I don't wonder he was taken in. In
fact, the only obstacle to his scheme of sud-
den wealth was, that there were no such mines,
and no such men as the alleged discoverers, in
existence.

I proceeded the next day to Carson City,
which I had fixed upon as the future head-quar-
ters of my agency. The distance from Genoa
is fifteen miles, the road winding around the
base of the foot-hills most of the way. I was
much impressed with the marked difference be-
tween the country on this side of the Sierra Ne-
vada range and the California side. Here the
mountains were but sparsely timbered ; the soil
was poor and sandy, producing little else than
stunted sage bushes ; and the few scattering farms
had a thriftless and poverty-stricken look, as if
the task of cultivation had proved entirely hope-
less, and had long since been given up. Across
the valley toward the Desert, ranges of mountains,
almost destitute of trees, and of most stern and
forbidding aspect, stretched as far as the eye
could reach. Carson River, which courses through
the plain, presented the only pleasing feature in
the scene.

I was rather agreeably surprised at the civil-
ized aspect of Carson City. It is really quite a
pretty and thrifty little town. Situated within
a mile of the foot-hills, within reach of the main
timber region of the country, and well watered
by streams from the mountains, it is rather im-
posing on first acquaintance ; but the climate is
abominable, and not to be endured. I know of
none so bad except that of Vii'ginia City, which
is infinitely worse. The population was about
twelve or fifteen hundred at the time of my visit.
There was great speculation in town lots going
on a rumor having come from Salt Lake that
the seat of government of Utah was about to be
removed to Carson. Hotels and stores were in
progress of erection all about the Plaza ; but es-
pecially drinking and gambling saloons it being
an article of faith among the embryo sovereigns
of Utah that no government can be judiciously

administered without plenty of whisky, and su-
perior accommodations for " bucking at Monte."
I am not sure but there is a similar feature in
the California constitution ; at least, the prac-
tice is carried on to some extent at Sacramento
during the sittings of the Legislature. Measures
of the most vital importance are first introduced
in rum-cocktails, then steeped in whisky, after
which they are engrossed in gin for a third read-
ing. Before the final vote, the opponents ad-
journ to a game of poker or sledge, and upon the
amount of Champagne furnished on the occasion
by the respective parties interested in the bill
depends its passage or defeat. It was said that
Champagne carried one of the great Senatorial
elections ; but this has been denied, and it would
be dangerous to insist upon it.

I had the pleasure of meeting in Carson an
esteemed friend from San Francisco, Mr. A. J.
Van Winkle, Real Estate Agent ; who, being a
descendant of the famous. Rip Van Winkle, was
thoughtful enough to furnish me with a bunk to
sleep in. Warned by the fate of his unhappy
ancestor, my friend had gone briskly into the
land business, and now owned enough of town
lots, of amazingly appreciative value, to keep
any man awake for the remainder of his life. I
think if I had as much property, doubling itself
up all the time like an acrobate in a circus, I
would never sleep another wink thinking about
it.

Chief among the curiosities of Carson City is
the Territorial Enterprise a newspaper of an
origin long anterior to the mining excitement.
I was introduced to ' ' the Colonel, " who presides
over the editorial department, and found him un-
commonly strong on the ultimate destiny of Car-
son. His office was located in a dirty frame
shanty, where, amidst types, rollers, composing-
stones, and general rubbish of a dark and literary
aspect, those astounding editorials which now and
then arouse the public mind are concocted. The
Colonel and his compositors live in a sort of
family fashion, entirely free from the rigorous
etiquette of such establishments in New York.
They cook their own food in the composition
room (which is also the editorial and press room),
and being, as a general thing, short of plates, use
the frying-pan in common for that purpose. In
cases of great festivity and rejoicing, when a sub-
scriber has settled up arrearages or the cash is
paid down for a good job of hand-bills, the Col-
onel purchases the best tender-loin steak to be
had in market, and cooks it with one hand, while
with the other he writes a lettdr of thanks to the
subscriber, or a puff on the hand-bill. But the
great hope upon which the Colonel feeds his im-
agination is the removal of the seat of govern-
ment from Salt Lake to Carson City, which he
considers the proper place. Mr. Van Winkle is
also of the same opinion ; and, as a general thing.
the proposition is favorably entertained by the
citizens of Carson.

As usual in new countries, a strong feeling of
rivalry exists between the Carsonites and the in-
habitants of Virginia City. I have summed up

A PEEP AT WASHOE.

151

the arguments on both sides and reduced them
to the following pungent essence :

Virginia City a mud-hole ; climate, hurri-
canes and snow ; water, a dilution of arsenic,
plumbago, and copperas ; wood, none at all ex-
cept sage brush ; no title to property, and no
property worth having.

Carson City a mere accident ; occupation of
the inhabitants, waylaying strangers bound for
Virginia ; business, selling whisky, arid so dull
at that, men fall asleep in the middle of the street
going from one groggery to another; productions,
grass and weeds on the Plaza.

While this fight is going on Silver City, which
lies about midway between the two, shrugs her
shoulders and thanks her stars there can be no
rivalry in her case. If ever there was a spot
fitted by nature for a seat of government it is
Silver City the most central, the most moral,
the most promising ; in short, the only place
where the seat of government can exist for any
length of time.

This Kilkenny-cat fight is highly edifying to
a stranger, who, of course, is expected to take
sides, or at once acknowledge himself an enemy.
The result, I hope, will be satisfactory and tri-
umphant to .all parties. I would suggest that
the government be split into three slices, and a
slice stowed away under ground in each of the
great cities, so that it may permeate the founda-
tions of society.

A few days after my arrival in Carson the sky
darkened, and we soon had a specimen of the
spring weather of this region. To say tliat it
stormed, snowed, and rained would be ridicu-
lously tame in comparison with the real state of
the case. The wind whistled through the thin
shanties in a manner that left scarcely a hope
of roof or frame standing till night. Through
the crevices came little hurricanes of snow-drift
mixed with sand ; each tenement groaned and
creaked as if its last hour had come ; the air was
bitterly cold ; and it seemed, in short, as if the
vengeance of Heaven had been let loose on this
desolate and benighted region.

Next day the clouds gradually lifted from the
mountain tops, and the sun once more shone out
bright and clear. The snow, which now covered
the valley, began to disappear; the lowing of
half-starved cattle, in search of the few green
patches visible here and there, gave some promise
of life ; but soon the portentous gusts of wind
swept down again from the canons ; dark clouds
overspread the sky, and a still more violent storm
than on the preceding day set in, and continued
without intermission all night. By morning the
whole face 'of the country was covered with snow.
A few stragglers came in from Woodford's, who
reported that the trail to Placerville was covered
up to the depth of six or eight feet, and was en-
tirely impracticable for man or beast. Ap-
prehensions were felt for the safety of the
trains on the way through, as nothing could be
heard from them. A large party had started
out to open the trail, but were forced back by
the severity of the weather. The snow-drifts

were said to vary from twenty to thirty feet in
depth.

Here was a pretty predicament ! To be shut
up in this desolate region, where even the cattle
were dying of starvation, with seven or eight
thousand human mouths to be fed, and the stock
of provisions rapidly giving out, was rather a
serious aspect of affairs. I do not know that
actual starvation could have resulted for some
time, certainly not until what cattle were alive
had been killed, and soup made of the dead car-
casses that covered the plain. Even before re-
sorting to the latter extremity there were horses,
mules, burros, and dogs, on hand, upon which
the cravings of hunger might be appeased for a
month or so ; and in the event of all these re-
sources giving out, should the worst come to the
worst, the few digger Indians that hung around
the settlements might be made available as an
article of temporary subsistence.

In this extremity, when considerable suffering
if not absolute starvation stared us in the face,
the anxiety respecting the opening of the trails
became general. Groups of men of divers occu-
pations stood in the streets, or on every little
rise of ground in the neighborhood, speculating
upon the chances or peering . through the gloom
in the hope of discerning the approach of some
relief train. The sugar was gone ; flour was
eighty dollars a sack, and but little to be had at
that; barley was seventy-five cents a pound, and
hay sixty cents ; horses were dying for want of
something to eat ; cigars were rapidly giving out :
whisky might stand the pull another week, but
the prospect was gloomy of any thing more nour-
ishing.

In this exciting state of affairs, when even-
brain was racked to devise ways and means of
relief, and when hope of succor was almost at an
end, a scout came running in from the direction
of the Downerville trail with the glorious tidings
of an approaching mule train. The taverns,
billiard saloons, groggeries, and various stores
were soon empty every body rushed down the
street to have assurance made doubly sure.
Cheer after cheer burst from the elated crowd
when the train hove in sight. On it came at
first like a row of ants creeping down the hill-
side ; then nearer and larger, till the clatter of
the hoofs and the rattling of the packs could be
heard ; then the blowing of the tired mules ; and
at last the leader, an old gray mule, came stag-
gering wearily along heavily packed. A barrel
was poised on his back doubtless a barrel of
beef, or it might be pork, or bacon. The brand
heaves in sight. Per Baccho ! it is neither beef,
pork, nor bacon, but whisky old Bourbon whis-
ky! The next mule totters along under two
half-barrels. Speculation is rife. Every man
with a stomach and an appetite for wholesome
food is interested. Pigs' feet perhaps, or mack-
erel, or, it may be, preserved chicken? But
here is the mark brandy ; by the powers! no-
thing but brandy ! However, here conies the
third with a load of five-gallon kegs molasses
beyond question, or lard, or butter? Wrong

HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

again, gentlemen gin, nothing but gin. On
staggers a fourth heavily burdened with more
kegs sugar, or corn meal, or preserved apples,
I'll bet my head. Never bet your head. It is
nothing but bitters Mack^s Bitters ! But sure-
ly the fifth carries a box of crushed sugar on his
back, he bears himself so gayly under his bur-
den. And well he may! That box contains
no more sugar than you do, my friend; it is
stuffed choke-full with decanters, tumblers, and
pewter spoons. But there are still ten or fifteen
mules more. Surely there must be some pro-
visions in the train. Nobody .can live to a very
protracted period of life on brandy, whisky, gin,
Mack's Bitters, and glass-ware. Alas, for hu-
man expectation ! One by one the jaded ani-
mals pass, groaning and tottering under their
heavy burdens a barrel of rum ; two boxes of
bottled ale ; six crates of Champagne ; two pipes
of California wine ; a large crate of bar fixtures ;
and a dozen boxes of cigars none of them nu-
tritious articles of subsistence.

As if to enhance our troubles, the party in
charge of the train had been nearly starved out
in the mountains, and now came in the very
lankest and hungriest of the crowd. If they
were thirsty, it was their own fault ; but none of
them looked as if they had suffered in that re-
spect.

Before entering into the responsible duties of
my agency I was desirous of seeing as much of
the mining region as possible, and with this view
took the stage for Virginia City. The most re-
markable peculiarity on the road was the driver,
whose likeness I struck in a happy moment of
inspiration. At Silver City, eight miles from
Carson, I dismounted, and proceeded the rest of
the way on foot. The road here becomes rough
and hilly, and but little is to be seen of the city
except a few tents and board shanties. Half a
mile beyond is a remarkable gap cut by Nature
through the mountain, as if for the express pur-
pose of giving the road an opportunity to visit
Virginia City.

As I passed through the Devil's Gate it struck

me that there was something ominous in the
name. " Let all who enter here " But I had
already reached the other side. It was too late
now for repentance. I was about to inquire
where the devil Excuse me, I use the word in

DEVIL'S GATE.

A PEEP AT WASHOE.

153

'

VlliUlNIA CITY.

no indecorous sense. I was simply about to ask
where he lived, when, looking up the road, I saw
amidst the smoke and din of shivered rocks,
where grimy imps were at work blasting for ore,
a string of adventurers laden with picks, shovels,
and crowbars ; kegs of powder, frying-pans, pitch-
forks, and other instruments of torture all wea-
rily toiling in the same direction ; decrepit old
men, with avarice imprinted upon their furrowed
brows ; Jews and Gentiles, foot-weary and hag-
gard ; the young and the old, the strong and the
weak, all alike burning with an unhallowed lust
for lucre; and then I shuddered as the truth
flashed upon me that they were going straight
to Virginia City.

Every foot of the canon was claimed, and
gangs of miners were at work all along the road,
digging and delving into the earth like so many
infatuated gophers. Many of these unfortunate
creatures lived in holes dug into the side of the
hill, and here and there a blanket thrown over a
few stakes served as a domicile to shield them
from the weather.

At Gold Hill, two miles beyond the Gate, the

excitement was quite pitiable to behold. Those
who were not at work, borrowing holes into the
mountain, were gathered in gangs around the
whisky saloons, pouring liquid fire down their
throats and swearing all the time in a manner so
utterly reckless as to satisfy me they had long
since bid farewell to hope.

This district is said to be exceedingly rich in
gold, and I fancy it may well be so, for it is cer-
tainly rich in nothing else. A more barren-
looking and forbidding spot could scarcely be
found elsewhere on the face of the earth. The
whole aspect of the country indicates that it
must have been burned up in hot fires many
years ago and reduced to a mass of cinders ; or
scraped up from all the desolate spots in the
known world, and thrown over the Sierra Nevada
Mountains in a confused mass to be out of the
way. I do not wish to be understood as speak-
ing disrespectfully of any of the works of crea-
tion ; but it is inconceivable that this regi< n
should ever have been designed as an abode for
man.

A short distance bevond Gold Hill we came

154

HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

in sight of the great mining capital of Washoe,
the far famed Virginia City. In the course of
a varied existence it had been my fortune to
visit the city of Jerusalem, the city of Constan-
tinople, the city of the Sea, the City of the Dead,
the Seven Cities, and others of historical celebrity
in the Old World ; and many famous cities in
the New, including Port Townsend, Crescent
City, Benicia, and the New York of the Pacific ;
but I had never yet beheld such a city as that
which now burst upon my distended organs of
vision.

On a slope of mountains speckled with snow,
sage-bushes, and mounds of upturned earth, with-
out any apparent beginning or end, congruity or
regard for the eternal fitness of things, lay out-
spread the wondrous city of Virginia.

Frame shanties, pitched together as if by acci-
dent ; tents of canvas, of blankets, of brush, of
potato-sacks and old shirts, with empty whisky
barrels for chimneys ; smoky hovels of mud' and

stone ; coyote holes in the mountain-side forcibly
seized and held by men ; pits and shafts with
smoke issuing from every crevice ; piles of goods
and rubbish on craggy points, in the hollows, on
the rocks, in the mud, in the snow, every where,
scattered broadcast in pell-mell confusion, as if
the clouds had suddenly burst overhead and
rained down the dregs of all the flimsy, rickety,
filthy little hovels and rubbish of merchandise
that had ever undergone the process of evapora-
tion from the earth since the days of Noah.
The interval^ of space, which may or may not
have been streets, were dotted over with human
beings of such sort, variety, and numbers that
the famous ant-hills of Africa were as nothing
in the comparison. To say that they were
rough, muddy, unkempt and unwashed, would
be but faintly expressive of their actual appear-
ance ; they were all this by reason of exposure
to the weather ; but they seemed to have caught
the very diabolical tint and grime of the whole

A QUESTION OF TITLE

A PEEP AT WASHOE

place. Here and there, to be sure, a San Fran-
cisco dandy of the "boiled shirt" and "stove-
pipe" pattern loomed up in proud consciousness
of the triumphs of art iinder adverse circum-
stances ; but they were merely peacocks in the
barn-yard.

A fraction of the crowd, as we entered the
precincts of the town, were engaged in a law-
suit relative to a question of title. The argu-
ments used on both sides were empty whisky-
bottles, after the fashion of the Basilinum, or
club law, which, according to Addison, prevail-
ed in the colleges of learned men hi former
times. Several of the disputants had already
been knocked down and convinced, and various
others were freely shedding their blood in the
cause of justice. Even the bull-terriers took an
active part or, at least, a very prominent part.
The difficulty was about the ownership of a lot,
which had been staked out by one party and
"jumped" by another. Some two or three
hundred disinterested observers stood by, en-
joying the spectacle, several of them with
their hands on their revolvers, to be ready in
case of any serious issue ; but these danger-
ous weapons are only used on great occasions

a refusal to drink, or some illegitimate trick at
monte.

Upon fairly reaching what might be consider-
ed the centre of the town, it was interesting to
observe the manners and customs of the place.
Groups of keen speculators were huddled around
the corners, in earnest consultation about the
rise and fall of stocks ; rough customers, with
red and blue flannel shirts, were straggling in
from the Flowery Diggings, the Desert, and oth-
er rich points, with specimens of croppings in
their hands, or offering bargains in the "Kog-
ers," the "Lady Bryant," the "Mammoth," the
" Woolly Horse," and Heaven knows how many
other valuable leads, at prices varying from ten
to seventy-five dollars a foot. Small knots of
the knowing ones wei*e in confidential inter-
change of thought on the subject of every other
man's business ; here and there a loose man was
caught by the button, and led aside behind n
shanty to be "stuffed;" every body had some
grand secret, which nobody else could find out :
and the game of " dodge" and "pump" was uni-
versally played. Jew clothing-men were setting
out their goods and chattels in front of wretch-
ed-looking tenements ; monte-dealers, gamblers,

13G

HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

* thieves, cut-throats, and murderers were min- (
gling miscellaneously in the dense crowds gath- '
ered around the bars of the drinking saloons.
Now and then a half-starved Pah-Ute or "VVashoe
Indian came tottering along under a heavy press
of fagots and whisky. On the main street,
where the mass of the population were gathered,
a jaunty fellow who had " made a good thing of
it" dashed through the crowds on horseback, ac- J
coutred in genuine Mexican style, swinging his j
reata over his head, and yelling like a devil let
loose. All this time the wind blew in terrific
gusts from the four quarters of the compass,
tearing away signs, capsizing tents, scattering
the grit from the gravel-banks with blinding
force in every body's eyes, and sweeping furious-
ly around every crook and corner in search of
some sinner to smite. Never was such a wind
as this so scathing, so searching, so given to pen-
etrate the very core of suffering humanity ; dis-
daining overcoats, and utterly scornful of shawls
and blankets. It actually seemed to double up,
twist, pull, push, and screw the unfortunate bi-
ped till his muscles cracked and his bones rat-
tled following him wherever he sought refuge,
pursuing him down the back of the neck, up the
coat-sleeves, through the legs of his pantaloons,
into his boots in short, it was the most villain-
ous and persecuting wind that ever blew, and I
boldly protest that it did nobody good.

Yet, in the midst of the general wreck and
crash of matter, the business of trading in
claims, "bucking," and "bearing" went on as
if the zephyrs of Virginia were as soft and balmy
as those of San Francisco.

This was surely No matter ; nothing on
earth could aspire to competition with such a

place. It was essentially infernal in every as-
pect, whether viewed from the Comstock Ledge
or the summit of Gold Hill. Nobody seemed
to own the lots except by right of possession ;
yet there was trading in lots to an unlimited ex-
tent. Nobody had any money, yet every body
was a millionaire in silver claims. Nobody had
any credit, yet every body bought thousands of
feet of glittering ore. Sales were made in the
Mammoth, the Lady Bryant, the Sacramento,
the Winnebunk, and the innumerable other
"outside claims," at the most astounding fig-
ures but not a dime passed hands. All was
silver underground, and deeds and mortgages on
top ; silver, silver every where, but scarce a dol-
lar in coin. The small change had somehow
gotten out of the hands of the public into the
gambling saloons.

Every speck of ground covered by canvas,
boards, baked mud, brush, or other architect-
ural material, was jammed to suffocation ; there
were sleeping houses, twenty feet by thirty, in
which from one hundred and fifty to two hun-
dred solid sleepers sought slumber at night, at a
dollar a head ; tents, eight by ten, offering ac-
commodations to the multitude ; any thing or
any place, evea a stall in a stable, would have
been a luxury.

The chief hotel, called, if I remember, the
" Indication," or the " Hotel de Haystack," or
some such euphonious name, professed to accom-
modate three hundred live men, and it doubtless
did so, for the floors were covered from the attic
to the solid earth three hundred human beings
in a tinder-box not bigger than a first-class hen-
coop ! But they were sorry-looking sleepers as
they came forth each morning, swearing at the
evil genius who had directed them to this
miserable spot every man a dollar and a
pound of flesh poorer. I saw some, who
perhaps were short of means, take surrep-
titious naps against the posts and walls in
the bar-room, while they ostensibly profess-
ed to be mere spectators.

In truth, wherever I turned there was
much to confirm the forebodings with which
I had entered the Devil's Gate. The deep
pits on the hill-sides ; the blasted and bar-
ren appearance of the whole country; the
unsightly hodge-podge of a town ; the hor-
rible confusion of tongues ; the roaring, rav-
ing drunkards at the bar-rooms, swilling
fiery liquids from morning till night ; the
flaring and flaunting gambling-saloons, fill-
ed with desperadoes of the vilest sort ; the
ceaseless torrent of imprecations that shock-
ed the ear on every side ; the mad specula-
tions and feverish thirst for gain all com-
bined to give me a forcible impression of the
unhallowed character of the place.

What dreadful savage is that ? I asked,
as a ferocious-looking monster in human
shape stalked through the crowd. Is it
can it be the No ; that's only a murder-
er. He shot three men a few weeks ago,
and will' probably shoot another before

A PEEP AT WASHOE.

157

night. And this aged and decrepit man,
his thin locks floating around his hag-
gard and unshared face, and matted with
filth? That's a speculator from San
Francisco. See how wildly he grasps at
every "indication," as if he had a lease
of life for a thousand years ! And this
bull-dog fellow, with a mutilated face,
button-holing every by-passer? That
fellow? Oh, he's only a "bummer" in
search of a cocktail. And this and this
all these crazy-looking wretches, run-
ning hither and thither with hammers
and stones in their hands, calling one an-
other aside, hurrying to the assay-offices,
pulling out papers, exchanging mysteri-
ous signals who and what arc all these ?
Oh, these are "VVashoe millionaires. They
are deep in "outside claims." The lit-
tle fragments of rock they carry in their
hands are "croppings" and "indica-
tions" from the ' ' Wake - up - Jake, ".
" Boot - Hog - or - Die, " ' ' Wild - Cat, "
"Grizzly Hill," "Dry-up," "Same
Horse," " Let-her-Rip," "You Bet,"
" Gouge-Eye," and other famous ledges
and companies, in which they own some
thousands of feet. Hold, good friend !
I am convinced there is no rest for the
wicked. All night long these dreadful
noises continue ; the ears are distracted
with an unintelligible jargon of "crop-
pings," "ledges," "lodes," "leads," "indica-
tions," "feet," and "strikes," and the nostrils
offended with foul odors of boots, old pipes, and
dirty blankets who can doubt the locality?
If the climate is more rigorous than Dante de-
scribes it if Calypso might search in vain for
Ulysses in such a motley crowd these apparent
differences are not inconsistent with the general
theory of changes produced by American emi-
gration and the sudden conglomeration of such
incongruous elements.

I was grieved and astonished to find many
friends here some of them gentlemen who had
borne a very fair reputation in San Francisco,
and whose unhappy fate I never could have an-
ticipated. The bankers and brokers who had
been cut off, after a prosperous career on Mont-
gomery Street, had, of course, reached the goal
toward which they had long been tending ; the
lawyers, who had set their unfortunate* fellow-
creatures by the ears, were now in a congenial
element ; the hard traders and unscrupulous
speculators, who had violated all the moral ob-
ligations of life in their greedy lust for money,
naturally abounded in large numbers ; in short,
it was not a matter of surprise that justice had
at length been dealt out to many sinful men.
But when I recognized friends whom I had for-
merly knpvvn as good citizens, the fathers of in-
teresting families, exemplary members of society
in San Francisco, I was profoundly shocked.
It was impossible to deny that they must have
been guilty of some grievous wickedness to en-
title them to such a punishment.

SAN FRANCISCO SPECULATORS.

What surprised me most of all was to find
Colonel R , to whom I had a letter of intro-
duction, the leading spirit here. His assistance
was sought by all. He was the best friend to
any man in need of advice. Hospitality with
him was a cardinal virtue. He had turned out
of his own snug quarters long since to make
room for the sick and disabled, and now slept
about wherever he could find shelter. He was
chief owner in the ' ' Comstock Lead, " and show-
ed great liberality in giving a helping hand to
others on the road to fortune. In fine, I am ut-
terly unable to determine for what crime he was
now suffering expiation. There was nothing in
his conduct that I could discover the least unbe-
coming to a good citizen. His benevolence, hos-
pitality, and genial manners, were worthy any
Christian. To me and to many others he proved
the good Samaritan, and I still hesitate to be-
lieve that he merited the hard fate now meted
out to him. But who c*an fathom the judgments
pronounced upon men ?

The bare contemplation of the miseries suf-
fered by the inhabitants of this dreadful place
was enough to stagger all convictions of my
identity. Could it be possible that I was at last
in in' Virginia City? What had I done to
bring me to this ? In vain I entered into a re-
trospection of the various iniquities of my life ;
but I could hit upon nothing that seemed bad
enough to warrant such a fate. At length a
withering truth flashed upon me. This must be
the end of a Federal existence ! This must be
the abode of Ex-Inspector-Gcnerals ! It must IK-

158

HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

here that the accounts current of the decapitated

are examined. Woe to the wretch who failed to

profit by specie clause

of the Independent

Treasury Act while

he had official claws

on hand! Such laches

of public duty can not

be tolerated even in

Virginia City.

I slept, or rather
tried to sleep, at
one " Zip's, " where
there were only twen-
ty " bunks" in the
room, and was for-
tunate in securing a
bunk even there. But
the great Macbeth
himself, laboring un-
der the stings of an
evil conscience, could
have made a better
hand of sleeping than
I did at Zip's. It
proved to be a gen-
eral meeting - place
for my San Francis-
co friends, and as
they were all very
rich in mining claims,
and bent on getting
still richer, they were
continually making
out deeds, examining
titles, trading and
transferring claims,
discussing the pur-
chases and prospects
of the day, and ex-
hibiting the most ex-

traordinary "indications" yet dis-
covered, in which one or other of
them held an interest of fifty or a
hundred feet, worth, say, a thou-
sand dollars a foot. Between the
cat-naps of oblivion that visited
my eyes there was a constant din
of " croppings" " feet" " fifty
thousand dollars" "struck it
rich!" "the Comstock Ledge!''
' ' the Billy Choller ! " " Miller
on the rise!" "Mammoth!"
' * Sacramento ! " " Lady Bry-
ant!" "a thousand feet more!"
"great bargain" "forty dol-
lars a foot!" crash! rip! bang!
" an earthquake ! " " run for
your lives ! "

What the deuce is the matter ?
It happened thus one night.
The wind was blowing in terrific
gusts. In the midst of the gen-
eral clatter on the subject of crop-
pings, bargains, and indications,
down came our next neighbor's

house on the top of us with a terrific crash.

For a moment it was difficult to tell which house

A PEEP AT WASHOE.

1 .VJ

THE OOMSTOCK. LEAD.

was the ruin. Amidst projecting and shivered
planks, the flapping of canvas, and the howling
of the wind, it really seemed as if chaos had
come again. But " Zip's" was well braced, and
stood the shock without much damage, a slight
heel and lurch to leeward being the chief result.
I could not help thinking, as I turned in again
after the alarm, that there could no longer be a
doubt on the subject which had already occa-
sioned me so many unpleasant reflections. It
even seemed as if I smelled something like brim-
stone; but upon calling to Zip to know what
was the matter, he informed me that he was
"only dryin' the boots on the stove."

Notwithstanding the number of physicians who
had already hoisted their " shingles," there was
much sickness in Virginia, owing chiefly to ex-
posure and dissipation, but in some measure to
the deleterious quality of the water. Nothing
more was wanting to confirm my original im-
pressions. The water was certainly the worst
ever used by man. Filtered through the Corn-
stock Lead, it carried with it much of the plum-
bago, arsenic, copperas, and other poisonous min-
erals alleged to exist in that vein. The citizens
of Virginia had discovered what they conceived
Co be an infallible way of " correcting it ;" that

is to say, it was their practice to mix a spoonful
of water in half a tumbler of whisky, and then
drink it. The whisky was supposed to neutral-
ize the bad effects of the water. Sometimes it
was considered good to mix it with gin. I was
unable to see how any advantage could be gain-
ed in this way. The whisky contained strych-
nine, oil of tobacco, tarentula juice, and various
effective poisons of the same general nature, in-
cluding a dash of corrosive sublimate ; and the
gin was manufactured out of turpentine and
whisky, with a sprinkling of Prussic acid to
give it flavor. For my part, I preferred taking
poison in its least complicated form, and there-
fore adhered to the water. With hot saleratus
bread, beans fried in grease, and such drink as
this, it was no wonder that scores were taken
down sick from day to day.

Sickness is bad enough at the best of times ;
but here the condition of the sick was truly pitia-
ble. There was scarcely a tenement in the place
that could be regarded as affording shelter against
the piercing wind ; and crowded as every' tent
and hovel was to its utmost capacity, it was hard
even to find a vacant spot to lie down, much less
sleep or rest in comfort. Many had come with
barely means sufficient to defray their expenses

100

HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

to the diggings, in the confident belief that they
would immediately strike upon " something rich. "
Or, if they failed in that, they could work a while
on wages. But the highest wages here for com-
mon labor were three dollars a day, while meals
were a dollar each, and lodgings the same. It
was a favor to get work for "grub." Under
such circumstances, when a poor fellow fell sick,
his recovery could only be regarded as a matter
of luck. No record of the deaths was kept. The
mass of the emigration were strangers to each
other, and it concerned nobody in particular
when a man " pegged out," except to put him in
a hole somewhere out of the way.

I soon felt the bad effects of the water. Pos-
sibly I had committed an error in not mixing
it with the other poisons ; but it was quite pois-
onous enough alone to give me violent pains in
the stomach and a very severe diarrhea. At the
same time, I was seized with an acute attack of
rheumatism in the shoulder and neuralgic pains

in the head. The complication of miseries which
I now suffered was beyond all my calculations
of the hardships of mining life. As yet I had
struck nothing better than " Winn's Restau-
rant," where I took my meals. The Comstock
Ledge was all very fine ; but a THOUSAND DOL-
LARS A FOOT ! Who ever had a thousand dol-
lars to put in a running foot of ground, when
not even the great Comstock himself could tell
where it was running to. On the whole, I did
not consider the prospect cheering.

At this period there were no laws of any kind
in the district for the preservation of order.
Some regulations had been established to secure
the right of discovery to claimants ; but they
were loose and indefinite, differing in each dis-
trict according to the caprice of the miners, and
subject to no enforcement except that of the re-
volver. In some localities the originardiscover-
er of a vein was entitled to 400 running feet ; he
could put down the names of as many friends as

>;LVEK, CERTAIN,

A PEEP AT WASHOE.

161

he chose at 200 feet each. Notice had to be re-
corded at certain places of record, designating
the date and location of discovery. All "leads"
were taken up with their "dips, spurs, and an-
gles." But who was to judge of the "dips,
spurs, and angles?" That was the difficulty.
Every man ran them to suit himself. The Corn-
stock Ledge was in a mess of confusion. The
shareholders had the most enlarged views of its
"dips, spurs, and angles;" but those who struck

croppings above and below were equally liberal
in their notions; so that, in fine, every body's
spurs were running into every body else's angles.
The Cedar Hill Company were spurring the Mil-
ler Company ; the Virginia Ledge was spurring
the Continuation ; the Dow Company were spur-
ring the Billy Choller, and so on. It was a free
fight all round, in which the dips, spurs, and
angles might be represented thus after the pat-
tern of a bunch of snakes :

THE CLAIMS.

The contention was very lively. Great hopes
were entertained that when Judge Cradlebaugh
arrived he would hold Court, and then there
would be some hope of settling these conflicting
claims. I must confess I did not share in the
opinion that law would settle any dispute in
which silver was concerned. The Almaden Mine
case is not yet settled, and never will be as long
as there are judges and juries to sit upon it, and
lawyers to argue it, and silver to pay expenses.
Already Virginia City was infested with gentle-
men of the bar, thirsting and hungering for
chances at the Comstock. If it could only be
brought into Court, what a picking of bones there
would be !

When the snow began to clear away there was
no end to the discoveries alleged to be made ev-
ery day. The Flowery Diggings, six miles be-
low Virginia, were represented to be wonderfully
rich so rich, indeed, that the language of every
speculator who held a claim there partook of the
flowery character of the diggings. The whole
country was staked off to the distance of twenty
or thirty miles. Every hill-side was grubbed
open, and even the Desert was pegged, like the
sole of a boot, with stakes designating claims.
Those who could not spare time to go out ' ' pros-
pecting" hired others, or furnished provisions
and pack-mules, and went shares. If the pros-
pecting party struck "any thing rich," it was
expected they would share it honestly ; but I al-
ways fancied they would find it more profitable
to hold on to that, and find some other rich lead
for the resident partners.

In Virginia City a man who had been at work
digging a cellar found rich indications. He im-
mediately laid claim to a whole street covered
with houses. The excitement produced by this
" streak of luck" was perfectly frantic. Hun-
VOL. XXII. No. 128. L

dreds went to work grubbing up the ground un-
der their own and their neighbors' tents ; and it
was not long before the whole city seemed in a
fair way of being undermined. The famous
Winn, as I was told, struck the richest lead of
all directly under his restaurant, and was next
day considered worth a million of dollars. The
dips, spurs, and angles of these various discoA--
eries covered every foot of ground within an area
of six miles. It was utterly impossible that a
fraction of the city could be left. Owners of lots
protested in vain. The mining laws were para-
mount where there was no law at all. There
was no security to personal property, or even to
persons. He who turned in to sleep at night
might find himself in a pit of silver by morning.
At least it was thus when I made up my mind
to escape from that delectable region ; and now,
four months later, I really don't know whether
the great City of Virginia is still in existence,
or whether the inhabitants have not found a
"deeper deep, still threatening to devour."

It must not be supposed, from the general
character of the population, that Virginia City
was altogether destitute of men skilled in scien-
tific pursuits. There were few, indeed, who did
not profess to know something of geology ; and
as for assayers and assay offices, they were al-
most as numerous as bar-keepers and groggeries.
A tent, a furnace, half a dozen crucibles, a bot-
tle of acid, and a hammer, generally comprised
the entire establishment ; but it is worthy of re-
mark that the assays were always satisfactory.
Silver, or indications of silver, were sure to be
found in every specimen. I am confident some
of these learned gentlemen in the assay business
could have detected the precious metals in ar.
Irish potato or a round of cheese for a reasona-
ble consideration.

1G2

HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

It was also a remarkable peculiarity of the
country that the great " Comstock Lead" was dis-
covered to exist in almost every locality, howev-
er remote or divergent from the original direc-
tion of the vein. I know a gentleman who
certainly discovered a continuation of the Com-
stock forty miles from the Ophir mines, and at
an angle of more than sixty degrees. But how
could the enterprising adventurer fail to hit upon
something rich, when every clod of earth and
fragment of rock contained, according to the as-
says, both silver and gold? There was not a
coyote hole in the ground that did not develop
"indications." I heard of one lucky fellow
who struck upon a rich vein, and organized an
extensive company on the strength of having
stumped his toe. Claims were even staked out
and companies organized on "indications" root-
ed up by the squirrels and gophers. If they were
not always indications of gold or silver, they
were sure to contain copper, lead, or some other
valuable mineral plumbago or iridium, for in-
stance. One man actually professed to have dis-

covered "ambergris ;" but I think he must have
been an old whaler.

The complications of ills which had befallen
me soon became so serious that I resolved to get
away by hook or crook, if it was possible to cheat

the corporate authorities of their dues. I

had not come there to enlist in the service of
Mammon at such wages.

Bundling up my pack one dark morning, I
paid "Zip" the customary dollar, and while the
evil powers were roistering about the grog-shops,
taking their early bitters, made good my escape
from the accursed place. Weak as I was, the
hope of never seeing it again gave me nerve ;
and when I ascended the first elevation on the
way to Gold Hill, and cast a look back over the
confused mass of tents and hovels, and thought
of all I had suffered there in the brief space of a
few days, I involuntarily exclaimed, "If ever I
put foot in that hole again, may the "

But perhaps I had better not use strong lan-
guage till I once more get clear of the DevilV
Gate.

ENDICA: IONS, SUEB J'

THE BATTLE OF THE COWPENS.

GOLD MEDAL AWARDED TO GENERAL MORGAN.

THE BATTLE OF THE COWPENS.

JANUARY 18, 1781.

TO the Cowpens riding proudly, boasting loudly, rebels scorning,
Tarleton hurried, hot and eager for, the fight;
From the Cowpens. sore-confounded, on that January morning,
Tarleton hurried somewhat faster, fain to save himself by flight.

In the morn he scorned us rarely, but he fairly found his error,

When his force was made our ready blows to feel;
When his horsemen and his footmen fled in wild and pallid terror

At the leaping of our bullets and the sweeping of our steel.

All the day before we fled them, and we led them to pursue UP,

Then at night on Thicketty Mountain made our camp;
There we Jay upon our rifles, slumber quickly coming to us,

Spite the crackling of our camp-fires, and our sentries' heavy tramp.

Morning on the mountain border ranged in
^g^5, ~. order found our. forces.

Ere our scouts announced the coming of

the foe;
While the hoar-frost lying near us, and the

distant water-courses,

Gleamed like silver in the sunlight, seemed
like silver in their glow.

Morgan ranged us there to meet them, and

to greet them with such favor
That they scarce would care to follow us

again :
In the rear, the Continentals none were

readier nor braver;

In the van, with ready rifles, steady, stern,
our mountain men.

Washington, our trooper peerless, gay and

fearless, with his forces
Waiting panther-like upon the foe to fall.
Formed upon the slope behind us, where, on

raw-boned country horses,
Sat the sudden-summoned levies brough;
from Georgia by M'Call.

Soon we heard a distant drumming, nearer coming, slow advancing

It was then upon the very nick of nine
Soon upon the road from Spartanburg we saw their bayonets glancing,

And the morning sunlight playing on their swaying scarlet line.

DANIEL MORUAN.

HARPER'S

EV MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

NO. CXXIX.-FEBRUARY, 1861,-VOL XIII.

A PEEP AT WASHOE.

BY J. ROSS BROWNE.

CAESON VALLEY.

S ill-luck would have it, a perfect hurricane I sometimes in gusts so sudden and violent that
swept through the canon from Gold Hill ; | it was utterly impossible to make an inch of

Entered .arrnrdin^ to Act of Congress, in the year 18G1, by Harper and Brothers, in the Clerk's Office of the Dis-
trict Court for the Southern District of New York.
VOL. XXII. No. 129. T

A

290

HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

headway. Tents were shivered and torn to
shreds all along the wayside. I saw one party
sitting at breakfast, with nothing but the four
posts which had originally sustained their tent
and a few fragments of canvas flapping from
them as a protection against the wind. No-
thing could withstand its terrific force. Cabins
with bush tops were unroofed ; frame shanties
were rent asunder, and the boards flew about
like feathers ; the air was filled with grit and
drift, striking the face as if the great guns, which
are sometimes said to blow, were loaded with
duck-shot. Nor did the wind confine itself to
one channel. It ranged up hill and down hill,
raking the enemy fore and aft. In one place
two tents were torn up, as one might say, by
the roots, and carried off bodily to the top of the
mountain ; in another, half a dozen might be
seen traveling down hill, at the rate of forty
miles an hour, toward the Flowery Diggings.
What became of all the unfortunate wretches
who were thus summarily deprived of their local
habitations I never learned. Most likely they
sought refuge in the coyote holes, which, in fact,
appeared to be untenanted; for I don't think
coyotes could live long in such a country.

A short distance beyond Gold Hill a trail
strikes off to the right, which is said to cut off
four or five miles of the distance to Carson City.
That would be a considerable gain to a traveler
making his escape from Virginia City, and whose
every step was attended with extreme physical
suffering, to say nothing of the mental disquie-
tude occasioned by his proximity to that place.
Besides, it avoided the " Devil's Gate, "of which
I had also an intense dread. What hordes of
dark and inexorable imps might be lying in wait
there, with pitchforks to impale a poor fellow
upon, and kegs of blasting powder to blow him
up; what accounts might have to be rendered
of one's stewardship at head-quarters ; what par-
ticular kind of passport, sanded over with brim-
stone and stamped with a cloven foot, might be
demanded it was not possible to conjecture.
At all events, it was safer to incur no risk. The
old adage of the "longest way round" did not
occur to me.

I took the trail, and was soon out of sight of
Gold City. The mountains were covered with
snow, not very deep, but soft and slippery. In
my weak state, with a racking rheumatism and
the prostrating effects of the arsenic water, the
labor of making headway against the fierce gusts
of wind and keeping the trail was very severe.
Every few hundred yards I had to lie down in
the snow and await some relief from the parox- I
ysms of pain. After an hour or two I reached |
a labyrinth of hills, in which the trail became
lost by the melting of the snow. I still had
some idea of the general direction, and kept on.
My progress, however, was very slow, and at
times so difficult that it required considerable
effort of mind to avoid stopping altogether, and
"taking the chances," as they say, in this agree-
able region. Now all this may seem very ab-
surd, as compared with the sufferings endured

by Colonel Fremont in the Rocky Mountains,
and doubtless is, in some respects. As, for in-
stance : I was not shut up in a gorge of the
mountains, a thousand miles from the habita-
tions of man ; I was not in a state of starvation,
though thin enough for a starved man in all
conscience ; I was not at all likely to remain in
any one position, however isolated, without be-
ing "spotted" by some enterprising miner in
search of indications. But then, on the other
hand, I was thoroughly dredged with arsenic,
plumbago, copperas, and corrosive sublimate,
and had neither mule nor " burro" not even a
woolly horse to carry me. Does any body pre-
tend to say that the renowned Arctic explorers
ever encountered such a series of hardships as
this ? Four or five months of perpetual night,
with the thermometer 80 below zero, may be
uncomfortable ; but then the adventurer in the
Polar regions has the advantage of being the
furthest possible distance from certain other re-
gions say, from Virginia City.

About noon I came to the conclusion, that
however willing the spirit might be the flesh
had done its best, and was now quite used up ;
so I stretched myself on the snow under a cedar
bush, and resolved to await what assistance
Providence might send me. I was not long
there when a voice in the distance caught my
ear. I rose and called. In a few minutes a
mysterious figure emerged from the bushes at
the mouth of a canon a few hundred feet below.
I beckoned to him to come up. The nn<:;ulnr
appearance and actions of the man attracted my
attention.

His face was nearly black with dirt, and his
hair was long and shaggy. On his head he
wore a tattered cap, tied around the chin with
a blue cotton handkerchief. A tremendous blue
nose, a pair of green goggles, and boots extend-
ing up to his hips, completed the oddity of his
appearance. At first he approached me rapidly ;
but at the distance of about fifty yards he halted,
as if uncertain what to do. He then put down
his pack, and began to search for something in
the pockets of his coat a knife, perhaps, or a
pistol. Could it be possible this fellow was a
robber, who had descried me from the opposite
mountain, and was now bent upon murder?
If so, it would be as well to bring the matter to
an issue at once. I was unarmed having even
lost my penknife by reason of a rent in my
pocket. There were desperate characters in
this wilderness, who would think nothing of
killing a man for his money; and although I
had only about forty dollars left, that fact could
not possibly be known to this marauder. His
appearance, to be sure, was not formidable ; but
then one should not be too hasty in judging by
appearances. For all I knew he might be the
Old Gentleman himself on a tour of inspection
from Virginia City.

"Hallo, friend!" said I, assuming a con-
ciliatory tone, "where are you bound?"

Upon this he approached a little closer. I
soon perceived that he was a German Jew, who

A PEEP AT WASHOE.

291

had either lost his
way or was prospect-
ing for silver. As he
drew near, he mani-
fested some signs of
trepidation evident-
ly being afraid I would
rob him of his pack,
in which there was
probably some jewel-
ry or old clothes. It
is hardly necessary
for me to say that I
had no intention of
robbing him. I had
not come to that yet.
There was no telling
to what straits I might
be reduced; but as
long as I had a dol-
lar in my pocket, I
was determined to
avoid highway rob-
bery. Besides, it was
beyond my strength
at this particular cri-
sis a fact which the
Jew seemed to recog-
nize, for he now ap-
proached confidently.
His first exclamation,
on reaching the spot
where I stood, was

"Dank Gott! Ish
dis de trail ?"

"Where are you
bound?"

"To Carson. I
pe going to Carson,
and I pe losht for six
hours. Mein Gott !
It ish an awful country. You know the way ?"

" Of course. You don't suppose I'd be here
if I didn't know the way ?"

"Datiszo."

" Come on, friend ; I'm going in that direc-
tion. But don't walk very fast I'm sick."

" Zo ? Was is de matter ? "

"Poisoned."

"Mein Gott! mein Gott! Das is awful."

" Very it makes a fellow so weak."

"Mein Gott ! Did dey poison you for your
money?" And here the Jew put his hands be-
hind him to see if his pack was safe.

"Oh no, it was only the water arsenic and
copperas."

"Zo!"

This explanation apparently relieved him of
a very unpleasant train of thought, for he now
became quite lively and talkative. As we trudged
along, chatting sociably on various matters of
common interest, it occurred to me from time
to time that I had seen this man's face before.
The idea grew upon me. It was not a matter
of particular importance, and yet I could not
banish it. His voice, too, was familiar. Cer-

AN OL1> FKIEND.

tainly there was something about him that pos-
sessed an uncommon interest.

" Friend," said I, "it occurs to me I've seen
you before."

"Zo? I dink de same."

Some moments elapsed before I could fix upon
the occasion or the place. All at once the truth
flashed upon me. It was Strawberry Flat! I
had slept with the man ! This was the identic-
al wretch who had robbed me of my stockings I
In the excitement produced by the discovery and
the recollection of my blistered feet, I verily be-
lieve, had I been armed with a broad-sword or
battle-axe, after the fashion of Brian de Bois
Guilbert, I would have cloven him in twain.

"Ha! I remember; it was at Strawberry!
You slept with me one night," said I, in a tone
of suppressed passion.

" Das is it ! Das is it !" cried the Jew. " 1
shlept mit you at Sthrawberry !"

The effrontery of the villain was remarkable.
Probably he would even acknowledge the theft.

"Friend," said I, calmly and deliberately,
" did you miss a pair of woolen stockings in the
morning about the time you started?"

292

HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

"Look here!" quoth the wretch, suddenly
halting, "was dey yours?"

"They were!"

At this the abominable rascal doubled him-
self up as if in a convulsion, shook all over, and
turned almost black in the face. It was his
mode of laughing.

' ' Well, I daught dey wos yours ! I daught
to myself, mein Gott ! how dat fellow will shwear
when he find his sthockings gone ! "

And here the convulsions were so violent that
he fairly rolled over in the snow, and kicked as
if in the agonies of death. It was doubtless very
funny to rob a man of his valuable property and
cause him days of suffering from blistered feet ;
but I was unable to see any wit in it till the Jew
regained his breath and said :

' ' Vel, vel ! I must sthand dhreat for dat ! I
know'd you'd shwear when you missed 'em. Vel,
vel! das is goot! Here's a flask of first-rate
brandy dhrink !"

I took a small pull medicinally, of course.
From that moment my forgiveness was complete.
I harbored not a particle of resentment against
the man, though I never again could have enter-
tained implicit confidence in his integrity.

In due time we reached the banks of Carson
River at a place called Dutch John's, distant
about four miles from Carson City. I have an
impression that John was an emigrant from Salt
Lake. He had brought with him a woman to
whom he was " sealed," and was the father of a
thriving little family of " cotton-heads." Some
of the stage-drivers who were in the habit of
taking a " smile" at John's persuaded him that
he was now among a moral and civilized people,
and must get married. To be " sealed" to a wo-
man was not enough. He must be spliced ac-
cording to Church and State, otherwise he would
wake up some fine morning and find himself
hanging to a tree. John had heard that the
Californians were terrible fellows, and had a
mortal dread of Vigilance Committees. The
stage-drivers were rather a clever set of fellows,
and no way strict in morals ; but then they
might hang him for fun. and what would be fun
to them would be death to him. There was
some charm in living an immoral life, to be
sure ; yet it would not do to enjoy that disrepu-
table course at the expense of a disjointed neck.
On the whole, John took the advice of the stage-
drivers, and got married. Next day he rode
through the streets of Carson, boasting of the
adroit manner in which he had escaped the
vengeance of the Vigilance Committee. I am
happy to add that he is now a respectable mem-
ber of the community. Not that I recommend
his whisky. I consider it infinitely worse than
any ever manufactured out of tobacco-juice, Cay-
enne-pepper, and whale-oil at Port Townsend,
Washington Territory, where the next worst
whisky in the world is used as the common bev-
erage of the inhabitants.

Leaving John's we came to the plain. Here
the sand was heavy, and the walking very mo-
notonous and tiresome. This part of Carson

Valley is a complete desert. Scarcely a blade of
grass was to be seen. Shriveled sage-bushes scat-
tered here and there over the sand were the only
signs of vegetation. Even the rabbits and sage-
hens had abandoned the country. All the open
spaces resembled the precincts of a slaughter-
house. Cattle lay dead in every direction, their
skulls, horns, and carcasses giving an exceeding-
ly desolate aspect to the scene. Near the river
it was a perfect mass of corruption. Hundreds
upon hundreds of rotting carcasses and bleached
skeletons dotted the banks or lay in great mounds,
where they had gathered for mutual warmth,
and dropped down from sheer starvation. The
smell filled the air for miles. Thousands of
buzzards had gathered in from all parts to the
great carnival of flesh presenting a disgusting
spectacle as they sat gorged and stupefied on the
foul masses of carrion, they scarcely deigning to
move as we passed. In the sloughs bordering on
the river oxen, cows, and horses were buried up
to the necks where they had striven to get to the
water, but from excess of weakness had failed
to get back to the solid earth. Some were dead,
others were dying. Around the latter the buz-
zards were already hovering, scarcely awaiting
the extinction of life before they plunged in their
ravenous beaks and tore out the eyes from the
sockets. On the dry plain many hundreds of
cattle had fallen from absolute starvation. The
winter had been terribly severe, and the prolong-
ed snows had covered what little vegetation there-
was. Those of the settlers who had saved hay
enough for their stock found it more profitable
to sell it at &300 a ton and let the stock die.
Horses, oxen, and cows shared the same fate.
Many lingered out the winter on the few stunted
shrubs to be found on the foot-hills, and died
just as the grass began to appear. It was a
hard country for animals of all kinds. Those
that were retained for the transportation of goods
were little better than living skeletons, yet the
amount of labor put upon them was extraordi-
nary. In Virginia City it was almost impossible
to procure a grain of barley for love or money.
Enormous prices were offered for any kind of
horse-feed, by men who had come over on good
horses, and who wished to keep them alive. At
the rate of five dollars a day it required but a
short time for the best horse to "eat his head
off." Hay was sold in little wisps of a few
pounds at sixty cents a pound, barley at seventy-
five cents, and but little to be had even at those
extravagant rates. A friend of mine from San
Francisco, who arrived on a favorite horse, could
get nothing in the way of feed but bread, and he
paid fifty cents a loaf for a few scanty loaves
about the size of biscuits to keep the poor ani-
mal alive. It was truly pitiable to see fine horses
starving to death. The severity of the weather
and the want of shelter were terribly severe on
animals of every kind. Good horses could
scarcely be sold for a tenth part of their cost
though the distance across the mountain could
be performed under ordinary circumstances in
two davs. But where all was rush and confu-

A PEEP AT WASHOE.

293

sion there was little time to devote to the calls
of humanity. Men were crazy after claims.
Every body had his fortune to make in a few
months. The business of jockeying had not
grown into full vogue, except among a few who
were always willing to sell at very high prices
and buy at very low a remarkable fact con-
nected with dealers in horse-flesh.

The walk across Carson Valley through the
heavy sand had exhausted what little of my
strength remained, and I was about to give up
the ghost for the third time, when a wagoner
from Salt Lake gave me a lift on his wagon and
enabled me to reach the town. Here my excel-
lent friend Van Winkle gave me another chance
in his bunk, and in the course of a few days I
was quite recruited.

The courteous reader who has followed me so
far will doubtless be disappointed that I have
given so little practical information about the
mines. Touching that I can only say, as Mac-
aulay said of Sir Horace Walpole, the constitu-
tion of my mind is such that whatever is great
appears to me little, and whatever is little seems
great. The serious pursuits of life I regard as
a monstrous absurdity on the part of mankind
especially rooting in the ground for money. The
Washoe mines are nothing more than squirrel-
holes on a large scale the difference being that
squirrels burrow in the ground because they live
there, and men because they want to live some-
where else. I deny and repudiate the idea that
any man really has any necessity for money.
He only thinks he does which is a most unac-
countable error.

But then you may have some notion of going
to Washoe yourself just to try your luck. Good
friend, let me advise you don't go. Stay where
you are. Devote the remainder of your life to your
legitimate business, your wife, and your baby.
Don't go to Washoe. If you have no money, or
but little, you had better go to any other place.
It is no retreat for a poor man. The working
of silver mines requires capital. A poor man
can not make wages in Washoe. If you are rich
and wish to speculate a word in your ear.

"The undersigned is prepared to sell at reasonable
prices" [this I quote from one of my advertisements] " val-
uable claims in the following companies :

The Dead Broke, The Fool Hardy,

The Rip Snorter, The Ousel Owl,

The Love's Despair, The Grab Game,

The Ragged End, The Riff- Raff.

The titles to all these claims are perfect, and the pur-
chaser of any claim will have no .difficulty whatever in
holding on to it."

I hope it will not be inferred from the despond-
ing tone of my narrative that I deny the exist-
ence of silver in Washoe, for certainly nothing
is farther from my intention. That there is sil-
ver in the Comstock Lead, and in great quanti-
ties, is a well-established fact. How many thou-
sands of tons may be there, it is impossible for
me to say, but there must be an immense quan-
tity beyond all calculation in fact, as the ore is
scattered all around the mines in great heaps,
and every heap is said to be worth a fortune if it
would only bear transportation to San Francisco
at an expense of $600 per ton. The best of it is
sorted out and packed off on mules every day or
two, partly to get the silver out of it, and partly
to show the speculators in San Francisco that
the mines have not yet given out. The yield per
ton is estimated at from $1200 to $2500. During
the time of my visit to the mines but little work
could be done on account of the number of specu-
lators who were engaged in trying to sell out,
few of them being disposed to engage in the slow
operation of mining. Some said it was on ac-
count of the weather, but I suspect the weather
had very little to do with it. The following is
a rough estimate of the Companies who claim to
hold in the Comstock vein :

Billy Choller

Hill and Norcross

Goold and Curry

Savage

Washoe

Belcher and Best

Sides Ground

Murphy

Kinney

Central

California

Walsh and Bryan

Central (again)

Ophir

Mexican

Continuation of Ophir. . .
Newman, Scott, and Co. .

Miller Co

Bob Allen and others

1820 feet
250 "

800

1200

223

500

100

60

100

250

50

150

200

100

1200

300

3000

900

HOLDING ON TO IT.

Besides about forty miles of out-
side claims, said to be on a di-
rect line with the Comstock, and
to be richer if any thing than the
original vein.

When I left, the prices asked
for a share in any of the above
companies ranged from $200 to
$2000 per running foot, and it
was alleged that the purchaser
could follow his running foot
through all its dips, spurs, and
angles. Some of these compa-
nies numbered as high as two or

294

HAEPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

CROPPING6.

three hundred. I know a gentleman who sold
out all his assets and invested the proceeds, $800,
in 8 inches of the Central, and another who mort-
gaged his property to secure five feet in the Billy
Choller. These gentlemen are, in all probability,
at this moment worth a million of dollars each.
In short, the whole country looks black, blue,
and white with silver, and where there is no sil-
ver there are croppings which indicate sulphurets
or copperas.

HONEST MINER.

The Flowery Diggings were in full flower ; and
if they have since failed to realize the expecta-
tions that were then formed of them it must be
because the Mammoth lead gave out, or Lady
Bryant did not sustain her reputation.

To the honest miner I have a word to say.
You are a free-born American citizen that is,
unless you were born in Ireland, which is so much
the better, or in Germany, which is better still.
You live by the sweat of your brow. You are
God's noblest work an honest man. The free
exercise of the right of suffrage is guaranteed to
you by the glorious Constitution of our common
country. Upon your vote may depend the fate
of millions of American freemen, nay, fate of
Freedom itself, and the ultimate destiny of man*
kind. I do not appeal to you on the present oc<
casion for any personal favor. Thank Fortune, I
am beyond that. But in the name of common
sense, in the name of our beloved State, in the
name of the great Continental Congress, I do ap-
peal to you if you have a claim in California
HOLD ON TO IT ! Don't go pirouetting about the
country in search of better claims, abandoning
ills that you are well acquainted with, and flying
to others that you know nothing about. If you
do, you may find it "a gloomy prospect."

"A GLOOMY PB08PECT."

I was now, so to say, permanently establishe
at Carson City. In other words, it was question-
able whether I should ever be able to get away
without resorting to the intervention of friends,
which was an alternative too revolting for hu-
man nature to bear. The only resource left was
"The Agency." I had forgotten all about it
hitherto, and now resolved to call at the Express
office, and see what fortune might be in store for
me. Surely the advertisement must have elicited
various orders of a lucrative nature. Nor was I
disappointed. A package of letters awaited me.
Without violating any confidential obligations,
I may say, in general terms, that the contents and
my answers were pretty much as follows :

I

A PEEP AT W A SHOE.

295

A. Wishes to know what the prospect would
be in Washoe for a young man of the medical
profession. Has a small stock of drugs, and pro-
poses to engage in the practice of medicine, and
at the same time keep a drug store.

Answer. Doctors are already a drug in
Washoe. Brandy, Whisky, and Gin are the only
medicines taken. Bring over a lot of good li-
quors, prescribe them at two bits a dose, and you
will do ;vell. Charge, $10 please remit.

B. Has about twenty head of fine American
cows. Would like to sell them, and wishes a
contract made in advance.

Answer. Could find nobody who wanted to
pay cash for cows. Money is scarce and cows
are plenty. Have sold your cows, however, for
the following valuable claims : 25 feet in the
Root-Hog-or-Die ; 40 feet in the Let-her-Rip ;
50 feet in the Gone Case ; and 100 feet in the
You Bet. Charge, $25, which please remit by
Express.

C. Would like to know if a school could be
established in Washoe with any reasonable pros-
pect of success. Has been engaged in the busi-
ness for some years, and is qualified to teach the
ordinary branches of a good English education,
or, if desired, Greek and Latin.

Answer. No time to waste in learning here,
and no use for the English language, much less
Greek or. Latin. A pious missionary might find
occupation. One accustomed to mining could
develop what indications there are of a spiritual
nature among the honest miners. No charge.

D. Wishes to invest about $1500 in some
good claims. Has three or four friends who will
go in with him. Is willing to honor a draft for
that amount. Hopes I will strike something rich.

Answer. Have bought a thousand feet for
you in the very best silver-mines yet discovered.
They are all in and about the Devil's Gate. Sev-
eral of them are supposed to be in the Comstock
Ledge. The}' are worth 50,000 this moment ;
but if you can sell them in S. F. for an advance
of $2000 do so by all means, as the silver may
give out. Charge, $400 or nothing.

E. Has been in bad health for some time,
and thinks a trip across the mountains would
do him good. Please give him some informa-
tion about the road and manner of living. How
about lodgings and fare? Is troubled with the
bronchitis, and wishes to know how the climate
would be likely to aifect it.

Ansiver. Hire a mule at Placerville, and if
you are not too far gone the trip may beneMt
your bronchial tubes. The road is five feet deep
by 130 miles long, and is composed chiefly of
mountains, snow, and mud. Lodgings from
one to two hundred lodgers in each room, and
from two to four bedfellows in each bed. Will
not be troubled long with the bronchitis. The
water will probably make an end of you in about
two weeks. Charge nothing.

F.~ Is a lawyer by profession, and desires to
establish a business in some new country. Thinks
there will be some litigation at Washoe in con-
nection with the mines. Wishes to be informed

on that point, and would be obliged for any gen-
eral information.

Answer. About every tenth man in Washoe
is a lawyer. There will doubtless be abundance
of litigation there before long. Would advise
you to go to some other new country, say Pike's
Peak, for instance. Respecting things general-
ly, Miller and Rodgers are going up and whisky
down. Charge, 50 cents. Please remit.

G. Thinks of taking his family over to Wa-
shoe. How are the accommodations for women
and children ? And can servants be had ?

Answer. Keep on thinking about that or
something else, but don't attempt to carry your
thoughts into effect. If you do, your wife must
wear the excuse me she must wear male ap-
parel. For accommodations, yourself and fam-
ily might possibly be able to hii i one bunk two
feet by six ; and you might seduce a Digger In-
dian to remain in your domestic employ by giv-
ing him $2 in cash and a gallon of whisky per
day. Charge nothing.

H. Has a house and lot worth about $10,000.
Would like to trade it for some good mining
claims. Can not sell the property for cash on
account of a difficulty about the title; but this
you need not mention, as it can probably be ad-
justed for a reasonable consideration.

Ansiver. Have traded your house and lot for
100 feet in the Pine Nut, 50 do. in the Ousel
Owl, 50 do. in the Salmon Tail, 25 in the Roar-
ing Jack, and 25 in the Amador. These are all
good claims, and it will make no difference about
the title to your house and lot, as each claim ii!
the above-mentioned companies has also several
titles to it. Charge, $500. Please remit.

/. Is in the stove business, and understands
that cast-iron stoves bring a high price in Wa-
shoe. Has some notion of sending over a con-
signment. Please state expenses and prospect
of success.

Answer. Stoves are very valuable in Washoe,
especially cooking-stoves. It costs from 25 to
50 cents per pound to get them over on mule-
back, at which prices they can be sold for claims,
but not for money. If you have any very young
stoves that can be planted, as the Schildbergers
planted the salt, a good crop of them can be sold.
Charge nothing.

J. Is inventor of a process for extracting sil-
ver out of the crude ore, without smelting. The
machinery is simple, and would easily bear trans-
portation. Could the patent-right be sold in
Washoe?

Answer. Nothing is more needed here than
just such an invention as yours. Bring it over
by all means. If you can extract silver out of
the general average of the ore found here, either
by smelting or otherwise, you will do a splendid
business. Charge, $50. Please remit.

A". Understands that lumber is $300 a thou-
sand in Virginia City. Can be delivered at the
wharf in San Francisco from the Mendocino
Mills for about $20 a thousand. Would it be
practicable to get any quantity of it over, so as
to make the speculation profitable ?

296

HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

Answer. You are correctly informed as to the
value of lumber in Washoe. A balloon might be
constructed to carry over a small lot ; but in case
you found that mode of transportation too expens-
ive, I know of no other way than to remove a por-
tion of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the rear of
Placerville, or run a tunnel through underneath.
It is possible that the price of labor might be an
obstacle to the success of either of these plans,
in which event, if you can contract to put one
board on the back of each man leaving San Fran-
cisco he may be able to earn his board, and you
may be able to get your lumber over cheap.
Charge, $25. Please remit.

I have thus given an average specimen of the
letters that came pouring in upon me by every
mail. It kept me busy, as may well be supposed,

to attend to the numerous requests made by my
correspondents ; but the trouble was, no money
came. There was a great deal, to be sure, for
future collection, and as long as that was due it
could not be lost by any injudicious speculation.
It was some consolation, therefore, to reflect upon
the large amount of capital that had accrued in
the various operations of the Agency.

At this crisis, when fortune had fairly begun
to smile, the weather changed again, and for days
it stormed and snowed incessantly, covering up
the whole valley, and blocking up every trail.
A relapse of rheumatism and my poison-malady
now seized me with renewed virulence. I had
scarcely any rest by night or day, and soon saw
that to remain would be a sure way of securing
a claim to at least six feet of ground in the vi-
cinity of Carson. The extraordinary number of

A PEEP AT WASHOE.

297

THE FLOWEEY DIGGINGS.

persons who had invested in silver mines, and
who were anxious to sell out in San Francisco,
suggested the idea of changing my Agency to
that locality. I therefore notified the public
that there was a rare opportunity of selling out
their claims to the best advantage ; and it was
not long before I was freighted down with "in-
dications," powers of attorney, deeds, and bills
of sale.

As soon as the weather permitted I set forth
on my journey homeward, taking the stage to
Genoa, in the hope of finding a horse or mule
there upon which to cross the mountains. It
was doubtful whether the trail was yet open ; but
a thaw had set in, and the prospect was that it
would be practicable to get over in a few days.
The stage from Genoa to Woodford's had been

discontinued, in consequence of the expense of
feeding the horses. All the saddle trains had
left before the late snow, and there was not an
animal of any kind to be had except by purchase
an alternation for which I was not prepared.

In this unfortunate state of affairs there was
nothing left but to try it again on foot. It was
with great difficulty that I could walk at all,
much less carry my blankets and the additional
weight of a heavy bundle of " croppings." The
prospect of remaining at Genoa, however, was
too gloomy to be thought of. So I sold my
blankets for a night's lodging and set out the
next morning for Woodford's. By dint of labor
and perseverance I accomplished about eight
miles that day. It was dark night when I reach-
ed a small farm-house on the road-side. Here

298

HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

BETUEN FROM WASHOE.

a worthy couple lived, who gave me comfortable
lodgings, and cooked up such a luxurious repast
of broiled chicken, toast, and tea, that I determ-
ined, if practicable, to remain a day or two, in
order to regain my strength for the trip across
the mountain.

The kindness and hospitality of these excellent
people had the desired eifect. In two days I
was ready to proceed. Fortunately an ox- wagon
was going to Woodford's for lumber, and I con-
tracted with the driver, a good-humored negro,
to give me a lift there for the sum of fifty cents.

I had the pleasure of meeting several San
Francisco friends on the road, and gave them
agreeable tidings of the mines. The trail had
just been opened. A perfect torrent of adven-
turers came pouring over, forming an almost un-
broken line all the way from Flacerville. By
this time the spring was well advanced and the
excitement was at its height. The news from
below was, that the whole State would soon be

depopulated. Every body was coming women,

children and all. Of course I wished them luck,

but it was a marvel to me what they would do

when they reached Washoe. Already there were

i eight or ten thousand people there, and not one

j in fifty had any thing to do or could get employ-

ment for board and lodging. Companies were

leaving every day for More's Lake and Walker's
River, and the probability was that there would
be considerable distress if not absolute suffering.
But it was useless to talk. Every adventurer
must have a look at the diggings for himself.
There must be luck in store for him if for no-
body else. For my part I had taken a look and
and was satisfied.

The ox-team traveled very slowly, so that
there was a good opportunity of seeing people
pass both ways. The difference in the expres-
sion of the incoming and the outgoing was very
remarkable ; being about the difference between
a man with fifty dollars in his pocket and one

OUTGOING AND INCOMING.

I

A PEEP AT WASHOE.

299

who wished to borrow that amount. There was
that canny air of confidence about the former
which betokens the possession of some knowledge
touching the philosopher's stone not shared by
mankind generally. About the latter there was
a mingled expression of sadness and sarcasm as
if they were rather inclined to the opinion that
some people had not yet seen the elephant.

As my ox-carriage crept along uneasily over
the rocky road, I was hailed from behind,
"Hello dare! Sthop!" It was my friend the
Jew again ! I had lost sight of him in Carson,
and now by some fatality he was destined to be
my companion again.

"Mein Gott! I'm tired valking. Can't you
give me a lift?" The driver was willing pro-
vided I had no objection. Now I had freely
forgiven this man for the robbery of my stock-
ings. I was not uncharitable enough to refuse
help to a tired wayfarer ; yet I had a serious ob-
jection to his company under existing circum-
stances. His boots were nearly worn out, and
mine had but recently been purchased in Carson.
If this fellow could embezzle my stockings and
afterward unblushingly confess the act, what se-
curity could I have on the journey for the safety
of my boots? I knew if he once started in
with me he would never relinquish his claim to
my company until we reached Placerville ; for
the fellow was rather of a sociable turn, and
liked to talk. It seemed best, therefore, under
all circumstances, to have a distinct understand-
ing at once. The treaty was soon negotiated.
On my part it was stipulated that Israel should
ride to Woodford's on the ox-wagon, provided
he paid his own fare ; that we should cross the
mountain together for mutual protection, pro-
vided he would deposit in my hands his watch
or a 810 gold piece, as security for the safety of
my boots ; and, finally, that he would bind him-
self by the most solemn obligations of honor not
to steal both the security and the boots. To
all of which the Jew assented with one of those
internal convulsions which betokened great satis-
faction in the arrangement. The watch was

THE JEW'S J1OOT8.

covered with pewter, as I discovered when he
handed it to me ; but I had no doubt it was
worth eight or ten dollars. Besides, the treaty
made no mention of the quality of the watch.
It might possibly be an excellent time-piece, and
at all events seemed to be worth a pair of boots.
Toward evening we arrived at Woodford's.
Between two and three hundred travelers from
the other side of the mountain had already got-
ten in, and it was represented that there was a
line of pedestrians all the way over to Straw-
berry. The rush for supper was tremendous.
Not even the famous Heenan and Savers contest
could compare with it, for here every body went
in or at least tried to get in. At the sixth
round I succeeded in securing a favorable posi-
tion, and when the battle commenced was for-
tunate enough to be crushed into a seat.

In the way of sleeping there was a general
spread-out up stairs. By assuming a confiden-
tial tone with the proprietor I contrived to get a
mattress and a pair of blankets. The Jew slept
alongside on his pack, with a covering of loose
coats. Nature's balmy restorer quickly put an
end to all the troubles of the day, notwithstand-
ing the incessant noise kept up throughout the
night.

In the morning I awoke much refreshed. It
was about seven o'clock and time to start. I
turned to arouse my friend Israel, but to my
surprise found that he had already taken his de-
parture. A horrible suspicion seized me. Had
he also taken Yes! of course! my boots were
gone too ! And the security ? The watch ? I
looked under my pillow. Miserable wretch ! he
had also taken the watch. I might have known
it ! I was a fool for trusting him. When I
picked up the old pair of boots bequeathed to me
as a token of remembrance by this depraved
man when I held them up to the light and ex-
amined them critically when I reflected upon
the journey before me, it was enough to bring
tears to the sternest human eye.

No matter ! I would catch the dastardly wretch
on the trail. If ever I laid hands upon him
again, so help me But what is
the use of swearing. No man
ever caught another in this world
with such a pair of boots on his
feet and here I examined them
again never! One might as
well attempt to walk in a pair of
condemned fire-buckets.

There was no help for it but
to await some chance of getting
over on horseback. Fortunately,
a saddle-train which had passed
down to Genoa during the previ-
ous day returned a little after
daylight. For the sum of 30.
cash in advance, I secured an un-
occupied horse the poorest ani-
mal perhaps ever ridden by mortal
man. There is no good reason
that I am aware of why people en-
gaged in the horse-business should

300

HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

always select for my use the refuse of their stock ;
but such has invariably been their practice. I
have never yet been favored with a horse that
was not lame, halt, or blind, or otherwise physic-
ally afflicted.

I had not ridden more than a mile from Wood-
ford's before I discovered that the miserable
hack upon which I was mounted traveled diago-
nally like a lugger beating against a head-wind.
His fore feet were well enough they traveled on
the trail ; but his hind feet were continually
undertaking to luff up a little to windward.
When it is borne in mind that the trail was over
a bank of snow from eight to ten feet deep, and
not more than a foot wide, the inconvenience of
that mode of locomotion will at once be perceived.
Every few hundred yards the hind feet got off
the trail, and went down with a sudden lurch
that kept me in constant apprehension of being
buried alive in the snow. Another serious diffi-
culty was, that my horse, owing perhaps to the
defect in his hind legs, had no capacity for short
turns ; so that whenever the trail suddenly di-
verged from its direct course he invariably
brought up against a rock, stump, or bank of
snow.

I appealed to the captain or commander of the
train to give me a better animal, but he assured
me positively this was the very best in the whole
lot ; and that I would find him peculiarly adapted
to mountain travel, where it was often an ad-
vantage for an animal to hold on to an upper
trail with his fore feet while his hind ones were
searching for another down below. In short, on
this account solely he had named him. " Guyas-
cutas."

As there seemed to be no way of impressing
the captain with a different opinion of the merits
of Guyascutas, I was obliged to make the best
of a bad bargain, and jog on as fast as spurs,
blows, and entreaties could effect that result.

In reference to the Jew, whom I expected to
overtake, and for whom I kept a sharp look-out,
it may be as well to state at once that I never
again put eyes on him. Whether he secreted
himself behind some tree or rock till the saddle-
train passed, or, overcome by remorse for the
dastardly act he had committed, cast himself
headlong over some precipice, I have never been
able to ascertain. He is a miserable wretch at
best. In view of the future I would not for all
the wealth of the Rothschilds stand in his
Well, yes, for that much money I might stand
in his boots, provided no others were to be had ;
but I should regret extremely to be guilty of such
an act toward any fellow-traveler as he had com-
mitted.

It was four o'clock when we got under way
from the Lake House. A mule-driver from the
other side of the divide had cautioned us against
starting. There had been several snow-slides
during the day, and it was only a few hours
since the trail had been cut through. A large
train of mules heavily laden must now be on the
way down the grade, and fifteen other trains
had left Strawberry since noon.

Those who have passed over the " Grade" can
best appreciate our position. Two of our horses
had already died of starvation and hard usage.
There was no barley or feed of any kind to be
had at the Lake House. The snow was rapidly
melting, and avalanches might be expected at
any moment. Only a day or two ago one of
these fearful slides had occurred, sweeping all be-
fore it. Two mules and a horse were carried
over the precipice and dashed to atoms, and the
driver had barely escaped with his life.

It was considered perilous to stop on any part
of the Grade. The trail was not over a foot
wide, being heavily banked up on each side by
the accumulated snow. Passing a pack train
was very much like running a muck. The
Spanish mules are so well aware of their privi-
leges when laden, that they push on in defiance
of all obstacles, often oversetting the unwary
traveler by main force. I was struck with a
barrel of whisky in one of the narrow passes
some time previously and knocked nearly sense-
less, so that I had good cause to remember their
prowess.

It was put to the vote whether we should
make the attempt or remain, and finally, after
much discussion, referred to our captain. He
was evidently determined to go on at all haz-
ards, having a stronger interest in the lives of
his horses than any of the party.

At the word of command we mounted and
put spurs to our jaded animals.

"Now, boys," said the captain, "keep to-
gether ! Your lives depend upon it ! Watch
out for the pack trains, and when you see them
coming hang on to a wide place ! Don't come
in contact with the pack-mules or you'll go over
the Grade certain."

There was no need of caution. Every nerve
was strained to make the summit as soon as pos-
sible. It should be mentioned that the " Grade"
is the Placerville state road, cut in the eastern
slope of the Sierra Nevadas, and winding upward
around each rib of the mountain for a distance
of two miles. It was now washed away in many
places by the melting of the snow, and some of
the bridges across the ravines were in a very bad
condition. From the first main elevation there
is still another rise of two or three miles to the
top of the divide, but this part is open and the
ascent is comparatively easy. In meeting the
pack trains the only hope of safety is to make
for a point where the road widens. These places
of security occur only three or four times in the
entire ascent of the Grade. To be caught be-
tween them on a stubborn or unruly horse is al-
most certain destruction at this season of the
year.

The only alternative is to dismount with all
speed, wheel your horse round, and if possible
get back to some place of security.

In about half an hour we made a point of rocks
where the trail was bare. Our captain gave the
order to dismount, and proceeded a short distance
ahead to reconnoitre. The whole space occu-
pied by our twelve horses and riders was not

A PEEP AT WASHOE.

301

8NOW SLIDE.

over six or eight feet wide by about thirty in
length. Should any of the animals become
stampeded they were bound to go over. The
tracks of several which had recently been pushed
over the precipice by the pack trains were still
visible. Our captain returned presently with
news that a train was in sight. Soon we heard
the tinkling of the bell attached to the leader,
and then the clattering of the hoofs as the mules
descended with their heavy burdens. One by
one they passed. Whisky, gin, and brandy
again ! Barrels, half-barrels, and kegs ! The
vaqueros made the cliffs resound with their
Carambas and Carajas, their DoiTa Marias and
Santa Sofias! a language apparently well un-
derstood by the mules. This was a train of forty
mules, all laden with liquors for the thirsty
miners. The vaqueros reported another train
within half a mile of twenty-five mules, and
others on the Grade.

After another train had passed, our captain
gave the word to mount and " cut for our lives !"
Scarcely five seconds elapsed before we were all
off, dashing helter-skelter up the trail. The
horses plunged and stumbled over the rocks,
slush, and mud in a manner truly pitiable for
them and dangerous for us. In some places
the mules had cut through for hundreds of yards,
and the trail was perfectly honey-combed. But
there was no time for humanity. Dashing the
spurs into the bleeding sides of our animals, we
pushed on as if all the evil powers of Virginia
City were after us.

" Go it, boys !" our captain shouted ; " neck
or nothing! I see the train! Two hundred
yards more and we're all safe ! Caraja ! Here's
another train right on us!"

It was a palpable truth ! The pack-mules
came lumbering down around a point not fifty
yards from us.

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HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

"Dismount all! Wheel! and cut back for
your lives !" This was the order. In a moment
we were all plunging rantically in the snow.
Some of the horses were stampeded, and one
man had gotten his riata around his leg. The
mules had also commenced a stampede, when,
by dint of shouting, plunging, and struggling,
we got clear of them, and went tearing down the
trail to our old station. The train soon passed
us. Whisky again, of course. " How many
trains more, Sefior?" to the vaquero. " Ca-
rambo ! muchos! muchos!" and on he went
laughing. This was hard. We could not stand
here much longer, for the tremendous bank of
snow above us began to show indications of
breaking away. Two trains more passed in
rapid succession, and then our captain rode
ahead again to reconnoitre. It was growing
dusk. The prospect was any thing but cheering.
At a given signal we mounted once more. Now
commenced a terrible race. Heads, necks, legs,
or horse-flesh were as nothing in the desperate
struggle to reach the next point. This time we
were in luck. The haven was attained just soon
enough, to avoid a train of forty mules. From
the vaquero we learned that another was still on
the Grade. We might be able to pass it, how-
ever, half a mile further on. At the word of
command we again mounted, and put spurs to
our jaded animals. It was not long before we

heard the tinkling of a bell. Now for it ! halt !
The mules were on us before we could turn;
and here commenced a scene which baffles all
description. Some of us were overturned, horses
and all, in the banks of snow. Others sprang
from their horses and let them struggle on their
own account. All had to break a way out of
the trail. The mules were stampeded, and
kicked, brayed, and rolled by turns. The va-
queros were in a perfect frenzy of rage and

THE GRADE.

I

A PEEP AT WASHOE.

terror combined shrieking Maladetto ! Caram-
bo ! and Caraja ! till it seemed as if the rever-
beration must break loose the snow from above
and send an avalanche down on top of us all.
Bridles got foul of stray legs and jerked the own-
ers on their backs ; riatas were twisted and
wound ai-ound horses, mules, and whisky-bar-
rels ; packs went rolling hither and thither ;
men and animals kicked for their bare lives ;
heads, legs, and bodies were covered up in the
snow-drifts ; and nobody knew what every body
else was doing, or what he was doing himself.
In short, the scene was altogether very lively,
and would have been amusing had it not been
intensified by the imminent risk of slipping over
the precipice. It was at least a thousand feet
down into Lake Valley, and a man might just
as well be kicked on the head by twelve frantic
horses and twenty-five vicious mules as under-
take a trip down there by the short cut.

All troubles must end. Ours ended when the
animals gave out for want of breath. Upon
picking up our scattered regiment, with all arms
and equipments used in the melee, we found the
result as follows : Dead, none ; wounded by
kicks, scratches, sprains, and bruises, six : mor-
tally frightened, the whole parry, inclusive of our
captain ; lost a keg of whisky, Avhich some say
went down to Lake Valley ; but I have my sus-
picions where that keg went, and how it was
secreted.

From this point over the summit we met sev-
eral more pack trains, and had an occasional
tumble in the snow. Nothing more serious oc-
curred. It was quite dark as we commenced
our descent. The road here was a running
stream of mud, obstructed by slippery rocks,
ruts, stumps, and dead animals. It was a mar-
vel to me how we ever reached the bottom with-
out broken bones. My horse stumbled about
every hundred yards, but never fell more than
three-quarters down. Somehow people rarely
get killed in this country, unless shot by revolv-
ers or bad whisky.

The crowds were thicker than ever at Straw-
berry. From all accounts the excitement had
only just commenced. Five thousand were rep-
resented to be on the road from the various dig-
gings throughout California. I had bargained
for a bed, and was enjoying the idea of a good
supper the savory odor of which came through
the cracks of the bar-room door when our cap-
tain announced that he could get no feed for his
animals, and we must ride on to " Dick's," four-
teen miles more. This was pretty tough on a
sick man. The ride since morning had been
quite hard enough to try the strength and tem-
per of a well man ; but add fourteen miles to
that, of a dark night and raining into the bar-
gain, and the sum total is not agreeable. It
was useless to remonstrate. The captain was
inflexible. He could not see his horses starve.
Qua was just giving his last kick, and three
more were about to "go in." I might stay if I
pleased, suggested the captain, but the horses
must go on. As I had paid thirty dollars for

the ride, and had barely enough left to get to
San Francisco, there was no alternative but to
mount. By this time three of the party were
so ill as to be scarcely able to sit in their sad-
dles.

It is wonderful how much one can endure
when there is nobody at hand to care a pin
whether he lives or dies. I rather incline to
the opinion that many people in this world die
from the kindness and sympathy of friends, who,
if thrown upon their own resources, would weath-
er it out.

I have an impressive recollection of the four-
teen miles from Strawberry to "Dick's." My
horse, Gyascutas, broke down about half-way.
The rest of the party pushed on. About the
same time the old tortures of rheumatism and
neuralgia assailed me in full force. It was
pitch dark. There was no stopping-place near-
er than " Dick's." The weather was cold, and
a drenching rain had now penetrated my clothes
to the skin.

A distinct recollection of my feelings a month
ago, as I tramped along over this road with my
pack on my back, afforded rne ample material
for philosophical reflection. Was it now some-
body else some decrepit old fogy who had lest
his all, and had nothing more to expect in this
world ? Or could it possibly be the glowing en-
thusiast, just freed from the trammels of office,
and inspired by visions of mountain life, liberty,
and wealth ? If it was the same and there
could hardly be any mistake about it, unless
some mysterious translation of the spirit into
some other body had taken place at Virginia
City the visions of mountain life, liberty, and
unbounded riches were certainly of a very differ-
ent character.

In addition to the peculiarity in the hind-
quarters of Guyascutas, which caused him al-
ways to take two trails at the same time, I had
now reason to suspect that he was entirely blind
of one eye, and afflicted with a cataract on the
other. Every hundred yards or so he walked
off the road, and brought up in some deep cav-
ity or against a pile of rocks. The mud in
many places was up to his haunches, and if
there was a comparatively dry spot any where in
existence, he was sure to avoid it. I think he
disliked me on account of the spurring I gave
him on the Grade, and wanted to get rid of me
in some way ; or perhaps he considered his own
course of life beyond further endurance.

The result of all the stumbling, and running
into deep pits, banks of rock, and mud-holes,
was that I had to get down and walk the re-
mainder of the way. If a conviction had not
taken possession of my mind that the captain
would compel me to pay for the horse, in the
event of failure to produce him, I would cheer-
fully have left him to his fate, and proceeded
alone ; but under the circumstances I thought it
best to lead him. At last the welcome liphts
hove in sight. It was not long before I was
snugly housed at Dick's, where a good cup of
tea brought life and hope back again. This, I

304

HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

BETDEN TO SAN FBANCISCO.

may safely say, was my hardest day's experience
of travel in any country.

Next day poor Guyascutas was so far gone on
his long journey that I had to leave him at a
stable on the road-side, and proceed on foot.
By night I was within six miles of Placerville.
Here I overtook a fellow-traveler, and bargain-
ed with him for his horse. From Placerville,
by stage to Sacramento, the journey is devoid
of interest. I arrived at San Francisco in due
time, a little the worse for the wear, but still
equal to any new emergency that might arise.

The citizens of San Francisco were on the
qui vive for news from Washoe. Almost every
man with a dollar to spare, and many who had
nothing to spare, had invested, to a greater or
less extent, in claims from thousands of feet
down to a few inches. Conflicting accounts
had recently come down. The public mind
was in a state of feverish excitement. Was

Washoe a humbug, or was it not ? Was there
silver there, or was it all sham ? What was the
Ophir worth at this time ? How about the Billy
Choller and the Miller ? These were but a few
of the questions asked me on Montgomery Street.
It required an hour to walk fifty yards, so great
was the pressure for news. Could I tell any-
thing about the Winnemuck, or the Pine-Nut,
or the Rogers ? Did I happen to know what
the Wake-up-Jake was worth in Washoe ?
What about the Lady Bryant was it true that
it had gone down ? Whereabouts was the Jim
Crack located, and what was Dead Broke worth ?
In short, I looked over more deeds, and answer-
ed more questions of a varied and indefinite na-
ture, in the brief space of three days, than had
ever been put to and answered by any one man
before.

The editor of the Bulletin, who had made a
flying visit to Washoe, and in whose company 1

A PEEP AT WASHOE.

305

had traveled down from Placerville, commenced
about this time a series of articles, in which he
told some startling truths. Base metal had been
found in the Comstock ; to what extent it pre-
vailed nobody could tell. If the Comstock
should prove to be worthless, what hope was
there for the " outside claims ?"

The news spread like wild-fire. A panic
seized upon the multitudes whose funds were
invested in Washoe. Men hurried about the
streets in search of purchasers of Washoe stock ;
but purchasers were nowhere to be found. Ev-
ery body wanted to sell. The Comstock sud-
denly fell from one thousand down to five dol-
lars per foot, and no sales at that. Miller went
down fifty per cent. ; and the Great Outside
could scarcely be given away at any price !
Alas ! had it come to this ? The gigantic
Washoe speculation "gone in," and none so
poor to do it reverence !

Softly ! A word in your ear, reader ! They
are only "bucking it down" for purposes of
speculation. The keen men who know a thing
or two are buying up secretly. The silver is
there, and it must come out. All this cry about
base metal is " a dodge" to frighten the timid.
If you have claims, hold on to them ; they will
be up again presently.

For my part, I thought it best to leave San
Francisco before my correspondents for whom,
it will be remembered, I had executed some
business in Washoe retracted their good opin-
ion of my sagacity. There was no chance at
this crisis to sell the various claims with which
I had been commissioned at Carson City. Cap-
italists were short of funds. The money mark-
et was laboring under a depression. The liver
of the body politic was in a state of collapse. I
went to the principal bankers, but failed to ac-
complish any thing. They even refused to lend
money on unquestionable security.

In view of all the circumstances, I determ-
ined to visit Europe. If the moneyed men of
the Old World could only be satisfied of the ex-

tent, variety, and magnificence of the invest-
ments to be made in the New, they would not
hesitate to open negotiations with an agent di-
rect from Washoe.

, January, 1861.
You will perceive from my address, most es-
teemed reader, that I am now established at one
of the best points for pecuniary transactions on
the Continent of Europe. I have seen many
of the wealthy burghers of Frankfort, and am
pleased to say that they manifest a very friendly
disposition. As yet they do not quite under-
stand the nature of the proposed securities ; but
I have great confidence in their sagacity. My
negotiations with the Rothschilds have been of
the most amicable character. They have gone
so far as to express the opinion that Washoe
must be a remarkable country ; and yesterday,
when I proposed to sell them fifty feet in the
Gone Case, and forty in the Roaring Grizzly,
for the sum of one hundred thousand florins,
they smiled so politely, and withal looked so
completely puzzled, that I considered it best not
to force an immediate answer. You are aware,
of course, that in important negotiations of this
kind it is judicious to let the opposite party sleep
a night or two over your proposition. That the
Rothschilds are at present a little wary of any
investment in Washoe is quite natural. The
nomenclature is new to them. They have never
before heard of Roaring Grizzly and Gone Case
silver mines. But if that should prove to be their
only objection, I have no doubt they will ulti-
mately purchase to the extent of several mill-
ions. If they do, I shall be happy to negotiate
sales for a reasonable commission, to be paid
strictly in advance. My publishers will, I am
confident, forward any letter to my address.
The postage must be pre-paid. The rates,
which are somewhat high, can be ascertained
by inquiry at the post-offices in San Francisco,
New Orleans, Saint Louis, Boston, and New
York.

VOL. XXII. No. 129. U

BEADING EXTRA BXTLLETIN.